^^mpfw 


>,     .^^ 


/■  \ 


:;ii£tt%V 


(^^ms 


POETEY    AND    HISTORY 


WYOMING: 


CONTAINING 


CAMPBELL'S   GERTRUDE, 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING  FROM  ITS  DISCOVERY 

TO  THE 

BEGINNING  OF  THE  PRESENT  CENTURY. 
BY  WILLIAM  L.  STONE, 

AUTHOR  OF   THE  UFE   OF   BRANT,   UFE   AND  TIMES   OF  RED  JACKET,   ETC. 
FOURTH  EDITION, 

WITH  AN  INDEX. 


WILKES-BARRE: 

C.  E.  BUTLER,  132  MARKET  STREET. 

1869. 


I-  1^/ 


PREFACE. 


The  "  Happy  Valley  "  to  which  the  illustrious  author  of 
Rasselas  introduces  his  reader  in  the  opening  of  that  charm- 
ing fiction,  was  not  much  more  secluded  from  the  world  than 
is  the  Valley  of  Wyoming.  Situated  in  the  interior  of  the 
country,  remote  from  the  great  thorough-fares  of  travel,  either 
for  business,  or  in  the  idle  chase  of  pleasure,  and  walled  on 
every  hand  by  mountains  lofty  and  wild,  and  over  which  long 
and  rugged  roads  must  be  travelled  to  reach  it,  Wyoming  is 
rarely  visited,  except  from  stern  necessity.  And  yet  the  im- 
agination of  Johnson  has  not  pictured  so  lovely  a  spot  in  the 
vale  of  Amhara  as  Wyoming. 

Much  has  been  said  and  sung  of  the  beauty  of  Wyoming  ; 
yet  but  comparatively  little  is  actually  known  to  the  public 
of  its  history.  That  a  horrible  massacre  was  once  perpetrated 
there,  and  that  the  fearful  tragedy  has  been  commemorated 
in  the  undying  numbers  of  Campbell,  every  body  knows. 
But  beyond  this,  it  is  believed  that  even  what  is  called  the 
reading  public  is  but  inadequately  informed  ;  and  there  are 
thousands,  doubtless,  who  would  be  surprised  on  being  told 
that,  independently  of  the  event  from  which  the  poet  has 
woven  his  thrilling  tale  of  Gertrude,  Wyoming  has  been  the 
theatre  of  more  historical  action,  and  is  invested  with  more 
historical  interest,  than  any  other  inland  district  of  the  United 
States  of  equal  extent.  The  revolutionary  occurrence,  sup- 
plying the  Muse's  theme  in  the  beautiful  tale  just  referred  to, 
forms  but  a  single  incident  in  a  course  of  fifty  years  of  various 
and  arduous  conflict  between  belligerent  parties  of  the  same 
race  and  nation,  each  contending  for  the  exclusive  possession 
of  that  fair  valley,  and  for  the  expulsion  of  the  rival  claim- 


M.'S'J.'^RRQ 


ir  PREFACE. 

ants.  Added  to  which  is  its  antecedent  Indian  history,  ex- 
tending back  more  than  fifty  years  prior  to  the  intrusion 
of  the  white  man,  and  perhaps  a  hundred.  The  dusky  In- 
dians were  engaged  in  bloody  strife  with  each  other  there, 
hand  to  hand  and  foot  to  foot.  All  that  is  fierce  and  brutal, 
selfish  and  unrelenting,  bitter  and  vindictive,  in  the  passions 
of  men  embroiled  in  civil  strife,  has  been  displayed  there. 
All  that  is  lofty  in  patriotism, — all  that  is  generous,  noble, 
and  self-devoted  in  the  cause  of  country  and  liberty,  has  been 
proudly  called  into  action  there.  All  that  is  true,  confiding, 
self-denying,  constant,  heroic,  virtuous,  and  enduring,  in  wo- 
man, has  been  sweetly  illustrated  there. 

Nevertheless  the  remark  may  be  repeated  that  but  com- 
paratively little  of  the  actual  history  of  this  secluded  district, 
— a  history  marked  by  peculiar  interest,  and  a  district  upon 
which  nature  has  bestowed  beauty,  with  a  lavish  hand, — is 
known  to  the  general  reader.  True,  indeed,  Wyoming  is 
mentioned  in  almost  every  book  of  American  history  written 
since  the  Revolution,  as  the  scene  of  the  massacre  ;  but  for 
the  most  part,  that  is  the  only  occurrence  spoken  of;  the 
only  fact  that  has  been  rescued  from  the  rich  mine  of  its  his- 
toric lore.  The  reader  of  poetry  has  probably  dreamed  of 
"Wyoming  as  an  Elysian  field,  among  the  groves  of  which  the 
fair  Gertrude  was  wont  to  stray  while  listening  to  the  music 
of  the  birds  and  gathering  wild-flowers;  and  the  superficial 
reader  of  every  thing  has  regarded  it  as  a  place  existing  some- 
where, in  which  the  Indians  once  tomahawked  a  number  of 
people. 

And  yet  Wyoming  has  had  its  own  historian.  More  than 
twenty  years  ago  a  gentleman  resident  there,  Mr.  Isaac  Chap- 
man, undertook  the  preparation  of  a  history,  but  he  died 
before  his  work  was  completed.  His  manuscripts,  however, 
were  edited  and  published  some  years  after  his  death  ;  but 
the  work  was  very  incomplete.  The  preliminary  Indian  his- 
tory was  merely  glanced  at,  while  that  of  the  revolutionary 
war  was  hurried  over  in  the  most  imperfect  and  unsatisfac- 
tory manner  possible.     It  was  not  written  in  a  popular  style, 


nor  published  in  an  attractive  form.  The  author,  moreover, 
in  regard  to  the  protracted  controversy  between  the  Connec- 
ticut settlers  and  the  Pennsylvanians,  wsls  governed  by  strong 
partialities  in  favor  of  the  former.  Proud's  History  of  Penn- 
sylvania comes  down  no  later  than  1770  ;  and  from  this  it 
could  scarcely  be  gathered  that  there  was  any  such  spot  as 
Wyoming  known.  Gordon's  late  History  only  comes  down 
to  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence.  He  has,  in- 
deed, devoted  some  twenty  or  thirty  pages  to  the  early  stages 
of  the  civil  contest  in  Wyoming,  but  he  writes  as  though  he 
had  been  a  paid  counsellor  of  the  old  Ogden  Land  Company, 
which  so  long  and  vainly  strove  to  dispossess  the  Connecticut 
settlers.  An  impartial  history,  therefore,  was  a  desideratum, 
and  such  I  have  attempted  to  supply,  written  in  the  style  of 
popular  narrative,  confined  to  facts  without  speculation,  and 
divested  entirely  of  documentary  citations. 

My  own  attention  was  directed  to  Wyoming  as  a  field  of 
historical  investigation  only  about  three  years  ago,  when  en- 
gaged in  preparing  for  the  press  the  Border  Wars  of  the 
Revolution,  as  connected  with  the  Life  of  the  Mohawk  chief- 
tain. Brant.  It  became  necessary,  in  executing  the  plan  of 
that  work,  to  examine  the  history  of  Wyoming,  so  far  at  least 
as  it  had  been  connected, — most  erroneously, — with  the 
name  of  that  distinguished  warrior  of  the  woods  ;  and  I  soon 
discovered  so  much  of  interest  in  the  tales  and  traditions  of 
the  valley — its  history,  written  and  unwritten, — indepen* 
dently  of  the  war  of  the  revolution, — that  I  resolved  upon 
the  institution  of  farther  investigations  at  some  more  conve- 
nient season. 

Keeping  this  object  uppermost  in  my  mind,  I  made  a  visit 
of  relaxation  and  pleasure  to  Wyoming  in  the  summer  of 
1839,  the  result  of  which,  through  the  kind  assistance  of  my 
friend  Charles  Miner,  and  also  of  his  nephew.  Doctor  Miner, 
was  a  collection  of  authentic  materials  sufficient  for  a  small 
volume  appertaining  to  the  history  of  that  valley  alone. 

The  name  of  Mr.  Miner  will  frequently  appear  in  the  notes 
and  references  of  the  present  volume.  He  is  an  able  man,  a 
1# 


PREFACE. 


native  of  Norwich,  Connecticut,  and  emigrated  to  the  Valley 
of  Wyoming  in  the  year  1799, — being  then  nineteen  years  of 
age.  He  first  engaged  in  school  teaching.  Having  a  bro- 
ther, a  year  or  two  older  than  himself,  who  was  a  practical 
printer,  he  invited  him  to  join  him  in  his  sylvan  retreat,  and 
establish  a  newspaper.  The  brother  did  so  ;  and  the  twain 
conjointly  established  the  "  Luzerne  Federalist."  This  paper 
was  subsequently  superseded  by  "  The  Gleaner,''  but  under 
the  same  editorial  conduct, — that  of  Charles  Miner.  It  was 
through  the  columns  of  the  Gleaner  that  Mr.  Miner,  for  a 
long  series  of  months,  instructed  and  amused  the  American 
people  by  those  celebrated  essays  of  morals  and  wit,  of  fact 
and  fancy,  and  delicate  humor,  purporting  to  come  "  From 
the  Desk  of  Poor  Robert  the  Scribe,"  and  which  were  very 
generally  republished  in  the  newspapers.  The  Gleaner  and 
its  editor  became  so  popular,  that  the  latter  was  invited  to 
Philadelphia,  as  associate  editor  of  the  "Political  and  Com- 
mercial Register,"  so  long  and  favorably  known  under  the 
conduct  of  the  late  Major  Jackson. 

Not  liking  the  metropolis  as  well  as  he  did  the  country, 
Mr.  Miner  soon  retired  to  the  pleasant  town  of  Westchester, 
eighteen  miles  from  Philadelphia,  where,  in  connexion  with 
his  brother  Asher,  who  had  also  removed  from  Wilkesbarre, 
he  established  the  Village  Record, — a  paper  which  became 
as  popular  for  its  good  taste,  and  the  delicacy  of  its  humor, 
as  the  Gleaner  had  been  aforetime.  Poor  Robert  here  wrote 
again  under  the  signature  of  <*  John  Harwood."  While  a 
resident  of  Westchester,  Mr.  Miner  was  twice  successively 
elected  to  Congress,  in  a  double  district,  as  a  colleague  of  the 
present  Senator  Buchanan. 

While  in  Congress  Mr.  Miner  showed  himself  not  only  a 
useful,  but  an  able  member.  In  the  subject  of  slavery  he 
took  a  deep  interest,  laboring  diligently  in  behalf  of  those 
rational  measures  for  its  melioration  wliich  were  doing  great 
good  before  a  different  feeling  was  infused  into  the  minds  of 
many  benevolent  men,  and  a  different  impulse  imparted  to 
their    action   on   this  subject.       There   is   another  act  for 


which  Mr.  Miner  deserves  all  praise.  It  was  he  who  awa- 
kened the  attention  of  the  country  to  the  silk-growing  busi- 
ness. He  drew  and  introduced  the  first  resolution  upon  the 
subject,  and  wrote  the  able  report  which  was  introduced  by 
the  late  General  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  as  chairman  of 
the  committee  on  agriculture,  to  whom  that  resolution  had 
been  referred. 

It  is  now  about  eight  years  since  Mr.  Miner  relinquished 
business  in  Westchester,  and,  with  his  brother,  returned  to 
Wyoming,  where  both  have  every  promise  of  spending  the 
evening  of  their  days  most  happily. 

But  to  return  from  this  digression  :  A  farther  illustration  of 
the  history  of  Wyoming  having  been  determined  on,  the 
next  question  presented  was  the  manner  in  which  it  should 
be  brought  out.  The  idea  occurred  to  me,  when  about  to 
commence  the  composition  of  the  historical  portion  of  the 
present  volume,  six  weeks  ago,  to  prefix  to  the  history^  the 
poetry  of  Campbell, — thus  comprising,  in  a  single  portable 
volume,  the  Poetry  and  History  of  Wyoming.  This  sug- 
gestion was  approved  by  Messrs.  Wiley  and  Putnam,  who 
are  to  be  the  publishers ;  and  in  addition  to  all,  Mr.  Wash- 
ington Irving  has  kindly  furnished  a  biographical  sketch  of 
the  author  of  Gertrude. 

W.  L.  S. 
New-York,  Dec.  25th,  1840. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


The  author  of  this  little  volume  —  or  rather  of  that  portion 
of  it  which  is  offered  to  the  public  as  original  —  was  induced 
to  believe  that  neither  the  poem  and  notes  of  Campbell,  nor  the 
brief  and  imperfect  notices  to  be  found  in  works  of  general 
history,  were  capable  of  affording  that  information  respecting 
the  murderous  assault  upon  Wyoming,  with  which  readers 
would  rest  satisfied ;  that  the  melancholy  story  possessed  in- 
terest enough  to  demand  a  more  complete  and  faithful  narra- 
tive. Favoring  circumstances  had  enabled  him  to  collect  the 
materials  for  this  purpose ;  and  he  thought  them  worthy  of 
being  presented  to  the  American  people. 

The  result  proved  that  his  opinion  was  not  fallacious.  The 
first  edition  was  speedily  taken  up,  and  the  continued  inquiry 
for  the  work  has  made  it  his  duty  to  publish  a  second.  The 
publication  of  the  volume  has  been  the  means  of  bringing  to 
his  knowledge  additional  facts  of  value,  and  some  few  cor- 
rections, all  of  which  have  been  incorporated  in  this  new,  en- 
larged and  revised  edition. 

W.  L.  S. 

Nkw-York,  October,  1843. 


A 

BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 

OF 

THOMAS     CAMPBELL, 

BY 

WASHINGTON  IRVING. 


It  has  long  been  admitted  as  a  lamentable  truth,  that  au- 
thors seldom  receive  impartial  justice  from  the  world,  while 
living.  The  graves  seem  to  be  the  ordeal  to  which  in  a  manner 
their  names  must  be  subjected,  and  from  whence,  if  worthy  of 
immortality,  they  rise  with  pure  and  imperishable  lustre.  Here 
many,  who  through  the  capi-ice  of  fashion,  the  influence  of 
rank  and  fortune,  or  the  panegyrics  of  friends,  have  enjoyed 
an  undeserved  notoriety,  descend  into  oblivion,  and  it  may 
literally  be  said  "  they  rest  from  their  labors,  and  their 
works  do  follow  them."  Here  likewise  many  an  ill-starred 
author,  after  struggling  with  penury  and  neglect,  and  starv- 
ing through  a  world  he  has  enriched  by  his  talents,  sinks  to 
rest,  and  becomes  an  object  of  universal  admiration  and  re- 
gret. The  sneers  of  the  cynical,  the  detractions  of  the  envi- 
ous, the  scoflings  of  the  ignorant,  are  silenced  at  the  hallowed 
precincts  of  the  tomb  ;  and  the  world  awakens  to  a  sense  of 
his  value,  when  he  is  removed  beyond  its  patronage  for  ever. 
Monuments  are  erected  to  his  memory,  books  are  written  in 
his  praise,  and  mankind  will  devour  with  avidity  the  biogra- 
phy of  a  man,  whose  life  was  passed  unheeded  before  their 
eyes.      He  is   like  gome  canonized  saint,  at  whose  shrine 


X  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH 

treasures  are  lavished  and  clouds  of  incense  offered  up, 
though  while  living  the  slow  hand  of  charity  withheld  the 
pittance  that  would  have  relieved  his  necessities. 

But  this  tardiness  in  awarding  merit  its  due,  this  prefer- 
ence continually  shown  to  departed  authors,  over  living  ones 
of  perhaps  superior  excellence,  may  be  ascribed  to  more 
charitable  motives  than  those  of  envy  and  ill-nature.  Of  the 
former  we  judge  almost  exclusively  by  their  works.  We 
form  our  opinion  of  the  whole  flow  of  their  minds  and  the 
tenor  of  their  dispositions  from  the  volumes  they  have  left 
behind ;  without  considering  that  these  are  like  so  many 
masterly  portraits,  presenting  their  genius  in  its  most  auspi- 
cious moments,  and  noblest  attitudes,  when  its  powers  were 
collected  by  solitude  and  reflection,  assisted  by  study,  stimu- 
lated by  ambiton  and  elevated  by  inspiration.  We  witness 
nothing  of  the  mental  exhaustion  and  languor  which  follow 
these  gushes  of  genius.  We  behold  the  stream  only  in  the 
spring-tide  of  its  current,  and  conclude  that  it  has  always 
been  equally  profound  in  its  depth,  pure  in  its  wave,  and  ma- 
jestic in  its  course. 

Living  authors,  on  the  contrary,  are  continually  in  public 
view,  and  exposed  to  the  full  glare  of  scrutinizing  familiarity. 
Though  we  may  occasionally  wonder  at  their  eagle  soarings, 
yet  we  soon  behold  them  descend  to  our  own  level,  and  often 
sink  below  it.  Their  habits  of  seclusion  make  them  less 
easj'  and  engaging  in  society  than  the  mere  man  of  fashion, 
•whose  only  study  is  to  please.  Their  ignorance  of  the  com- 
mon topics  of  the  day,  and  of  matters  of  business,  frequently 
makes  them  inferior  in  conversation  to  men  of  ordinary  ca- 
pacities, while  the  constitutional  delicacy  of  their  minds  and 
irritability  of  their  feelings,  make  them  prone  to  more  than 
ordinary  caprices.  At  one  time  solitary  and  unsocial,  at  an- 
other listless  and  petulant,  often  trifling  among  the  frivolous, 
and  not  unfrequcntly  the  dullest  among  the  dull.  All  these 
circumstances  tend  to  diminish  our  respect  and  admiration  of 
their  mental  excellence,  and  show  clearly,  that  authors,  like 
actors,  to  be  impartially  critized,  should  never  be  known  be- 
hind the  scenes. 


OF    THOMAS    CAMPBELL.  XI 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  causes  that  operate  in  Europe  to  de- 
fraud an  author  of  the  candid  judgment  of  his  countrymen, 
but  their  influence  does  not  extend  to  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 
We  are  placed,  in  some  degree,  in  the  situation  of  posterity. 
The  vast  ocean  that  rolls  between  us,  like  a  space  of  time, 
removes  us  beyond  the  sphere  of  personal  favor,  personal 
prejudice,  or  personal  familiarity.  An  European  work,  there- 
fore, appears  before  us  depending  simply  on  its  intrinsic  mer- 
its. We  have  no  private  friendship  nor  party  purpose  to 
serve  by  magnifying  the  author's  merits,  and  in  sober  sadness 
the  humble  state  of  our  national  literature  places  us  far  be- 
low any  feeling  of  national  rivalship. 

But  while  our  local  situation  thus  enables  us  to  exercise  the 
enviable  impartiality  of  posterity,  it  is  evident  we  must  share 
likewise  in  one  of  its  disadvantages.     We  are  in  as  complete 
ignorance  respecting  the  biography  of  most  living  authors  of 
celebrity,  as  though  they  had  existed   ages  before  our  time, 
and  indeed  are  better  informed  concerning  the  character  and 
lives  of  authors  who  have  long  since   passed  away,  than  of 
those    who  are   actually  adding   to   the  stores   of  European 
literature.     Few   think   of   writing   the    anecdotes  of  a  dis- 
tinguished  character  while   living.     His   intimates,  who  of 
course  are  most  capable,  are  prevented  by  their  very  inti- 
macy, little  thinking  that  those  domestic  habits  and  peculiar- 
ities, which   an  every  day's  acquaintance  has  made  so  trite 
and  familiar  to  themselves,  can  be  objects  of  curiosity  to  all 
the  world  besides.      Thus  then  we  who  are  too  distant  to 
gather  those  particulars  concerning  foreign  authors,  that  are 
circulated   from  mouth   to   mouth  in  their  native  countries, 
must  content  ourselves  to  remain  in  almost  utter  ignorance  ; 
unless  perchance  some  friendly  magazine  now  and  then  gives 
us  a  meagre  and  apocryphal  account  of  them,  which  rather 
provokes  than  satisfies  our  curiosity.     A  proof  of  these  asser- 
tions will  be  furnished  in  the  following  sketch,  which,  unsat- 
isfactory as  it  is,  contains  all  the  information  we  can  collect, 
concerning  a  British  poet  of  rare  and  exquisite  endowments. 
Thomas  Campbell  was  born  at  Glasgow  on  the  27th  Sep- 


XU  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH 

tember,  1777.  He  was  the  youngest  son  of  Mr.  Alexander 
Campbell,  a  merchant  of  that  city,  highly  spoken  of  for  his 
amiable  manners  and  unblemished  integrity ;  who  united  the 
scholar  and  the  man  of  business,  and  amidst  the  engrossing 
cares  and  sordid  pursuits  of  business,  cherished  an  enthusias- 
tic love  of  literature. 

It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  the  American  reader  to 
know  that  Mr.  Campbell,  the  poet,  had  near  connexions  in 
this  country.  His  father  passed  several  years  of  his  youth 
at  Falmouth,  in  Virginia,  but  returned  to  Europe  before  the 
revolutionary  war.  His  uncle,  who  had  accompanied  his 
father  across  the  Atlantic,  remained  in  Virginia,  where  his 
family  uniformly  maintained  a  highly  respectable  station  in 
society.  One  of  his  sons  was  district  attorney  under  the  ad- 
ministration of  Washington,  and  was  celebrated  for  his  de- 
meanor. He  died  in  J 795.  Robert  Campbell,  a  brother  of 
the  poet,  settled  in  Virginia,  where  he  married  a  daughter  of 
the  celebrated  Patrick  Henry.     He  died  about  1807. 

The  genius  of  Mr.  Campbell  showed  itself  almost  in  his 
infancy.  At  the  age  of  seven  he  displayed  a  vivacity  of  im- 
agination and  a  vigor  of  mind  surprising  in  such  early  youth. 
He  now  commenced  the  study  of  Latin  under  the  care  of  the 
Rev.  David  Alison,  a  teacher  of  distinguished  reputation.  A 
strong  inclination  for  poetry  was  already  discernible  in 
him,  and  it  was  not  more  than  two  years  after  this,  that,  as 
we  are  told.  "  he  began  to  try  his  wings."  None  of  the  first 
flutterings  of  his  muse,  however,  have  been  preserved,  but 
they  had  their  effect  in  rendering  him  an  object  of  favor 
and  attention,  aided  no  doubt  by  his  personal  beauty,  his 
generous  sensibility,  and  the  gentleness  and  modesty  of  his 
deportment.  At  twelve  he  entered  the  university  of  Glasgow, 
and  in  the  following  year  gained  a  bursary  on  Bishop  Leigh- 
ton's  foundation,  for  a  translation  of  one  of  the  comedies  of 
Aristophanes,  which  he  executed  in  verse.  This  triumph  was 
the  more  honorable  from  being  gained  after  a  hard  contest 
over  a  rival  candidate  of  nearly  twice  his  age,  who  was  con- 
■idered  one  of  the  best  scholars  in  the  university.    His  second 


OF    THOMAS    CAMPBELL.  Xlll 

prize-exercise  was  the  translation  of  a  tragedy  of  iEschylus, 
likewise  in  verse,  which  he  gained  without  opposition,  as 
none  of  the  students  would  enter  the  lists  with  him.  He 
continued  seven  years  in  the  university,  during  which  time 
his  talents  and  application  were  testified  by  yearly  academical 
prizes.  He  was  particularly  successful  in  his  translations 
from  the  Greek,  in  which  language  he  took  great  delight; 
and  on  receiving  his  last  prize  for  one  of  these  performances, 
the  Greek  professor  publicly  pronounced  it  the  best  that  had 
ever  been  produced  in  the  university. 

He  made  equal  proficiency  in  other  branches  of  study 
especially  in  Moral  Philosophy;  he  attended  likewise  the 
academical  course  of  Law  and  Physic,  but  pursued  none  of 
these  studies  with  a  view  to  a  profession.  On  the  contrary, 
the  literary  passion,  we  are  told,  was  already  so  strong  with 
him,  that  he  could  not  endure  the  idea  of  devoting  himself  to 
any  of  the  dull  and  sordid  pursuits  of  busy  life.  His  father 
influenced  by  his  own  love  of  literature,  indulged  those  way- 
ward fancies  in  his  son,  building  fond  hopes  on  his  early  dis- 
play of  talent.  At  one  time,-  it  is  true,  a  part  of  the  family 
expressed  a  wish  that  he  should  be  fitted  for  the  Church,  but 
this  was  overruled  by  the  rest,  and  he  was  left  without  fur- 
ther opposition  to  the  impulses  of  his  genius,  and  the  seduc- 
tions of  the  muse. 

After  leaving  the  university  he  passed  some  time  among 
the  mountains  of  Argyleshire,  at  the  seat  of  Colonel  Napier, 
a  descendant  of  Napier  Baron  Merchester,  the  celebrated  in- 
ventor of  logarithims.  It  is  suggested  that  he  may  have  im- 
bibed from  this  gentleman  his  taste  and  knowledge  of  the 
military  arts,  traces  of  which  are  to  be  seen  throughout  his 
poems.  From  Argyleshire  he  went  to  Edinburgh,  where  the 
reputation  he  had  acquired  at  the  university  gained  him  a 
favorable  reception  into  the  literary  and  scientific  circles  of 
that  intellectual  city.  Among  others  he  was  particularly 
noticed  by  professors  Stewart  and  Playfair.  To  the  ardor 
and  elevation  of  mind  awakened  by  such  associates  may  we 
ascribe,  in  a  great  measure,  the  philosophical  spirit  and  moral 

2 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH 


sublimity  displayed  in  his  first  production,  "  The  Pleasures  of 
Hope,"  written  during  his  residence  in  Edinburgh,  when  he 
was  but  twenty  years  of  age. 

Inexperienced  in  authorship,  and  doubtful  of  success,  he 
disposed  of  the  copy-right  of  his  poem  for  an  inconsiderable 
sum.  It  was  received  by  the  public  with  acclamation,  and 
ran  through  two  editions  in  the  course  of  a  few  months,  when 
his  bookseller  permitted  him  to  publish  a  splendid  edition  for 
himself,  by  which  means  he  was  enabled  in  some  measure,  to 
participate  in  the  golden  harvest  of  his  talent.  His  great 
reward,  however,  was  the  bright  and  enduring  reputation 
which  he  instantly  acquired,  as  one  of  the  legitimate  line  of 
British  poets. 

The  passion  for  German  literature  which  prevailed  at  this 
time  in  Great  Britian,  awakened  a  desire  in  Mr.  Campbell  to 
study  it  at  the  fountain  head.  This,  added  to  a  curiosity  to 
visit  foreign  parts,  induced  him  to  embark  for  Germany  in 
the  year  1800.  He  had  originally  fixed  upon  the  college  of 
Jena  for  his  first  place  of  residence,  but  on  arriving  at  Ham- 
burgh he  found,  by  the  public  prints,  that  a  victory  had  been 
gained  by  the  French  near  Ulm,  and  that  Munich  and  the 
heart  of  Bavaria  were  the  theatre  of  an  interesting  war. 
"  One  moment's  sensation,"  he  observes  in  a  letter  to  a  rela- 
tion in  this  country,  "  the  single  hope  of  seeing  human  na- 
ture exhibited  in  its  most  dreadful  attitude,  overturned  my 
past  decisions.  I  got  down  to  the  seat  of  war  some  weeks 
before  the  summer  armistice  of  1800,  and  indulged  in  what 
you  will  call  the  criminal  curiosity  of  witnessing  blood  and 
desolation.  Never  shall  time  efface  from  my  memory  the 
recollection  of  that  hour  of  astonishment  and  suspended  breath, 
when  I  stood  with  the  good  monks  of  St.  Jacob,  to  overlook  a 
charge  of  Klenaw's  cavalry  upon  the  French  under  Grennier, 
encamped  below  us.  We  saw  the  fire  given  and  returned, 
and  heard  distinctly  the  sound  of  the  French  pas  de  charge, 
collecting  the  lines  to  attack  in  close  column.  After  three 
hours'  awaiting  the  issue  of  a  severe  action,  a  park  of  artil- 
lery was  opened  just  beneath  the  walls  of  the  monastery,  and 


OF    THOMAS    CAMPBELL.  XV 

several  wagoners  that  were  stationed  to  convey  the  wounded 
in  spring  wagons,  were  killed  in  our  sight.  My  love  of  novel- 
ty now  gave  way  to  personal  fears  I  took  a  carriage  in  com- 
pany with  an  Austrian  surgeon  back  to  Landshut,"  &:.c.  This 
awful  spectacle  he  has  described  with  all  the  poet's  fire,  in 
his  Battle  of  Hohenlinden  ;  a  poem  which  perhaps  contains 
more  grandeur  and  martial  sublimity,  than  is  to  be  found  any 
where  else  in  the  same  compass  of  English  poetry. 

From  Landshut  Mr.  Campbell  proceeded  to  Ratisbon,  where 
he  was  at  the  time  it  was  taken  possession  of  by  the  French 
and  expected  as  an  Englishman  to  be  made  prisoner,  but  he 
observes  "  Moreau's  army  was  under  such  excellent  discipline, 
and  the  behavior  both  of  officers  and  men  so  civil,  that  1  soon 
mixed  among  them  without  hesitation,  and  formed  many 
agreeable  acquaintances  at  the  messes  of  their  brigade  sta- 
tioned in  town,  to  which  their  chef  de  brigade  often  invited 
me.  This  worthy  man.  Colonel  Le  Fort,  whose  kindness  I 
shall  ever  remember  with  gratitude,  gave  me  a  protection  to 
pass  through  the  whole  army  of  Moreau." 

After  this  he  visited  different  parts  of  Germany,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  paid  one  of  the  casual  taxes  on  travelling, 
being  plundered  among  the  Tyrolese  mountains,  by  a  scoun- 
drel Croat,  of  his  clothes,  his  books,  and  thirty  ducats  in  gold. 
About  midwinter  he  returned  to  Hamburgh,  where  he  re- 
mained four  months,  in  the  expectation  of  accompanying  a 
young  gentleman  of  Edinburgh  in  a  tour  to  Constantinople. 
His  unceasing  thirst  for  knowledge,  and  his  habits  of  indus- 
trious application,  prevented  these  months  from  passing 
heavily  or  unprofitably.  "My  time  at  Hamburgh,"  he  ob- 
serves, in  one  of  his  letters,  "  was  chiefly  employed  in  read- 
ing German,  and,  I  am  almost  ashamed  to  confess  it,  for 
twelve  successive  weeks  in  the  study  of  Kant's  Philosophy, 
I  had  heard  so  much  of  it  in  Germany,  its  language  was  so 
new  to  me,  and  the  possibility  of  its  application  to  so  piany 
purposes  in  the  different  theories  of  science  and  belles-lettres 
was  so  constantly  maintained,  that  I  began  to  suspect  Kant 
might  be  another  Bacon,  and  blamed  myself  for  not  perceiving 


XVI  BIOURAPHICAL    SKETCH 

his  merit.  Distrusting  my  own  imperfect  acquaintance  with 
the  German,  I  took  a  Disciple  of  Kant's  for  a  guide  through 
his  philosophy,  butfound,  even  with  all  this /a«r  ;//«!/,  nothing 
to  reward  mj'  labor.  His  metaphysics  are  mere  innovations 
upon  the  received  meaning  of  words,  and  the  coinage  of  new 
ones  convey  no  more  instruction  than  the  distinctions  of  Dun 
Scotus  and  Thomas  Aquinas.  In  belles-lettres,  the  German 
language  opens  a  richer  field  than  in  their  philosophy.  1 
cannot  conceive  a  more  perfect  poet  than  their  favorite  Wie- 
land." 

While  in  Germany  an  edition  of  his  Pleasures  of  Hope  was 
proposed  for  publication  in  Vienna,  but  was  forbidden  by  the 
court,  in  consequence  of  those  passages  which  relate  to  Kos- 
ciusko, and  the  partition  of  Poland.  Being  disappointed  in 
his  projected  visit  to  Constantinople,  he  returned  to  England 
in  1801,  after  nearly  a  year's  absence,  which  had  been  passed 
much  to  his  satisfaction  and  improvement,  and  had  stored  his 
mind  with  grand  and  awful  images.  "  I  remember,"  says  he, 
"  how  little  I  valued  the  art  of  painting  before  I  got  into  the 
heart  of  such  impressive  scenes;  but  in  Germajiy,  I  would 
have  given  anything  to  have  possessed  an  art  capable  of  con- 
veying ideas  inaccessible  to  speech  and  writing.  Some  par- 
ticular scenes  were  indeed  rather  overcharged  with  that  de- 
gree of  the  terrific  which  oversteps  the  sublime,  and  1  own 
my  flesh  yet  creeps  at  the  recollection  o^ spring  wagons  and 
hospitals — but  the  sight  of  Jngolstadt  in  ruins,  or  Hohenlin- 
den  covered  with  fire,  seven  miles  in  circumference,  were 
spectacles  never  to  be  forgotten." 

On  returning  to  England,  he  visited  London  for  the  first 
time,  where,  though  unprovided  with  a  single  letter  of  intro- 
duction, the  celebrity  of  his  writings  procured  him  the  imme- 
diate notice  and  attentions  of  the  best  society.  The  following 
brief  sketch  which  he  gives  of  a  literary  club  in  London,  will 
be  gratifying  to  those  who  have  felt  an  interest  in  the  anec- 
dotes  of  Addison  and  his  knot  q^  beaux  espritsui  Button's  cof- 
fee house,  and  Johnson  and  his  learned  fraternity  at  the 
Turk's  head. — '*  Mackintosh,  the  Vindiciee  Gallicce  was  par- 


OF    THOMAS    CAaiPBELL.  XVll 

ticularly  attentive  to  me,  and  took  me  with  him  to  his  conviv- 
ial parties  at  the  King  of  Clubs,  a  place  dedicated  to  the 
meetings  of  the  reigning  wits  of  London,  and,  in  fact,  a  lineal 
descendant  of  the  Johnson,  Burke,  and  Goldsmith  society,con- 
stituted  for  literary  conversations.  The  dining  table  of  these 
knights  of  literature  was  an  arena  of  very  keen  conversational 
rivalship,  maintained,  to  be  sure,  with  perfect  good  nature,  but 
in  which  the  gladiators  contended  as  hardly  as  ever  the 
French  and  Austrians  in  the  scenes  I  had  just  witnessed. 
Much,  however,  as  the  wit  and  erudition  of  these  men  pleases 
an  auditor  of  the  first  or  second  visit,  this  trial  of  minds  be- 
comes at  last  fatiguing,  because  it  is  unnatural  and  unsatis- 
factory. Every  one  of  these  brilliants  goes  their  to  shine  ; 
for  conversational  powers  are  so  much  the  rage  in  London, 
that  no  reputation  is  higher  than  his  who  exhibits  thera. 
Where  every  one  tries  to  instruct,  there  is  in  fact  but  little  in- 
struction :  wit,  paradox,  eccentricity,  even  absurdity,  if  deliv- 
ered rapidly  and  facetiously,  takes  priority  in  these  societies 
of  sound  reasonings  and  delicate  taste.  I  have  watched 
sometimes  the  devious  tide  of  conversation,  guided  by  ac- 
cidental associations,  turning  from  topic  to  topic  and  satis- 
factory upon  none.  What  has  one  learned  ?  has  been  my 
general  question.  The  mind,  it  is  true,  is  electrified  and 
quickened,  and  the  spirits  finely  exhilarated,  but  one  grand 
fault  pervades  the  whole  institution ;  their  inquiries  are 
desultory,  and  all  improvements  to  be  reaped  must  be  acci- 
dental," 

The  friendship  of  Mrs.  Siddons  was  another  acquisition,  of 
which  Mr.  Campbell  spoke  with  great  pleasure ;  and  what 
rendered  it  more  gratifying  was  its  being  unsought  for.  It 
was  the  means  of  introducing  him  to  much  excellent  society 
in  London.  "  The  character  of  that  great  woman,"  he  ob- 
serves, "  is  but  little  understood,  and  more  misrepresented 
than  any  living  character  I  know,  by  those  who  envy  her  rep- 
utation, or  by  those  of  the  aristocracy,  whom  her  irresistible 
dignity  obliges  to  pay  their  homage  at  a  respectable  distance. 
The  reserve  of  her  demeanor  is  banished  toward  those  who 

2* 


iVin  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCJI 

show  neither  meanness  in  flattering  her,  nor  forwardness  in 
approaching  her  too  familiarly.  The  friends  of  her  fireside 
are  only  such  as  she  talks  to  and  talks  of  with  affection  and 
respect. 

The  recent  visit  of  Mr.  Campbell  to  the  continent  had 
increased  rather  than  gratified  his  desire  to  travel.  He  now 
contemplated  another  tour,  for  the  purpose  of  improving  him- 
self in  the  knowledge  of  foreign  languages  and  foreign  man- 
ners in  the  course  of  which  he  intended  to  visit  Italy  and  pass 
some  time  at  Rome.  From  this  plan  he  was  diverted,  most 
probably  by  an  attachment  he  formed  to  a  Miss  Sinclair,  a  dis- 
tant relation,  whom  he  married  in  1803.  This  change  in  his 
situation  naturally  put  an  end  to  all  his  wandering  propensi- 
ties, and  he  established  himself  at  Sydenham  in  Kent,  near 
London,  where  he  devoted  himself  to  literature.  Not  long 
afterward  he  received  a  solid  and  flattering  token  of  the  royal 
approbation  of  his  poem  of  the  Pleasures  of  Hope  in  a  pension 
of  200Z.  What  made  this  mark  of  royal  favor  the  more  grat- 
ifying was,  that  it  was  granted  for  no  political  services  render- 
ed or  expected.  Mr.  Campbell  was  not  of  the  court  party, 
but  of  the  constitutional  whigs.  He  has  uniformly,  both  be- 
fore and  since,  been  independent  in  his  opinions  and  writings  ; 
a  sincere  and  enthusiastic  lover  of  liberty,  and  advocate  for 
popular  rights. 

Though  withdrawn  from  the  busy  world  in  his  retirement 
at  Sydenham,  yet  the  genius  of  Mr.  Campbell,  like  a  true 
brilliant,  occasionally  flashed  upon  the  public  eye  in  a  num- 
ber of  exquisite  little  poems,  which  appeared  occasionally  in 
the  periodical  works  of  the  day.  Among  these  were  Hohen- 
linden  and  Lochiel,  exquisite  gems,  sufficient  of  themselves 
to  .establish  his  title  to  the  sacred  name  of  poet :  and  the 
Mariners  of  England  and  the  Battle  of  the  Baltic,  two  of  the 
noblest  national  songs  ever  written,  fraught  with  sublime 
imagery  and  lofty  sentiments,  and  delivered  in  a  gallant 
swelling  vein,  that  lifts  the  soul  into  heroics. 

In  the  beginning  of  1809,  he  gave  to  the  public  his  Ger- 
trude of  Wyoming,  conneoted  with  the  fortunes  of  one  of  our 


OF    THOMAS    CAMPBELL.  XXI 

little  patriarchal  villages  on  the  banks  of  the  Susquehannah, 
laid  desolate  by  the  Indians  during  our  revolutionary  war. 
There  is  no  great  scope  in  the  story  of  this  poem,  nor  any  very 
skilful  development  of  the  plan,  but  it  contains  passages  of 
exquisite  grace,  and  tenderness,  and  others  of  spirit  and  gran- 
deur ;  and  the  character  of  Outalissi  is  a  classic  delineation 
of  one  of  our  native  savages  :^- 

A  stoic  of  the  woods,  a  man  without  a  tear. 

What  gave  this  poem  especial  interest  in  our  eyes  at  the  time 
of  its  appearance,  and  awakened  a  strong  feeling  of  good  will 
toward  the  author,  was,  that  it  related  to  our  own  country, 
and  was  calculated  to  give  a  classic  charm  to  some  of  our  own 
home  scenery.  The  following  remarks  were  elicited  from  us 
at  the  time,  though  the  subsequent  lapse  of  thirty  years  has 
improved  the  cogency  of  many  of  them. 

"  We  have  so  long  been  accustomed  to  experience  little 
else  than  contumely,  misrepresentation,  and  very  witless  rid- 
icule from  the  British  press;  and  we  have  had  such  repeated 
proof  of  the  extreme  ignorance  and  absurd  errors  that  pre- 
vail in  Great  Britain  respecting  our  country  and  its  inhabit- 
ants, that  we  confess,  we  were  both  surprised  and  gratified  to 
meet  with  a  poet,  sufficiently  unprejudiced  to  conceive  an  idea 
of  moral  excellence  and  natural  beauty  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic.  Indeed  even  this  simple  show  of  liberality  has 
drawn  on  the  poet  the  censures  and  revilings  of  a  host  of 
narrow-minded  writers, with  whom  liberality  to  this  country  is 
a  crime.  We  are  sorry  to  see  such  pitiful  manifestations  of 
hostility  toward  us.  Indeed  we  must  say,  that  we  consider 
the  constant  acrimony  and  traduction  indulged  by  the  Brit- 
ish press,  toward  this  country,  to  be  as  opposite  to  the  inter- 
est as  it  is  derogatory  to  the  candor  and  magnanimity  of  the 
nation.  It  is  operating  to  widen  the  difference  between  two 
nations,  which,  if  left  to  the  impulse  of  their  own  feelings, 
would  naturally  grow  together,  and  among  the  sad  changes 
of  this  disastrous  world,  be  mutual  supports  and  comforts  to 
each  other. 


XX  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH 

*'  Whatever  may  be  the  occasional  collisions  of  etiquette 
and  interest  which  will  inevitably  take  place  between  two 
great  commercial  nations,  whose  property  and  people  are 
spread  far  and  wide  on  the  face  of  the  ocean  ;  whatever  may 
be  the  clamorous  expressions  of  hostility  vented  at  such  times 
by  our  unreflecting  populace,  or  rather  uttered  in  their  name 
by  a  host  of  hireling  scribblers,  who  pretend  to  speak  the  sen- 
timents of  the  people  ;  it  is  certain,  that  the  well  educated 
and  well  informed  class  of  our  citizens  entertain  a  deep  root- 
ed good-will,  and  a  rational  esteem  for  Great  Critian.  It  is 
almost  impossible  it  should  be  otherwise.  Independent  of 
those  hereditary  affections,  which  spring  up  spontaneously 
for  the  nation  from  whence  we  have  descended,  the  single 
circumstance  of  imbibing  our  ideas  from  the  same  authors, 
has  a  powerful  effect  in  causing  an  attachment. 

"  The  writers  of  Great  Britain  are  the  adopted  citizens  of 
our  country,  and,  though  they  have  no  legislative  voice,  ex- 
ercise a  powerful  influence  over  our  opinions  and  affections. 
In  these  works  we  have  British  valor,  British  magnanimity, 
British  might,  and  British  wisdom  continually  before  our 
eyes,  portrayed  in  the  most  captivating  colors,  and  are  thus 
brought  up,  in  constant  contemplation  of  all  that  is  amiable 
and  illustrious  in  the  Britisli  character.  To  these  works  like- 
wise we  resort,  in  every  varying  mood  of  mind,  or  vicissitude 
of  fortune.  They  are  our  delight  in  the  hour  of  relaxation; 
the  solemn  monitors  and  instructors  of  our  closet ;  our  com- 
forters under  the  gloom  of  despondency.  In  the  season  of 
early  life,  in  the  strength  of  manliood,  and  still  in  the 
weakness  and  apathy  of  age,  it  is  to  them  we  are  indebted 
for  our  hours  of  refined  and  unalloyed  enjoyment.  When  we 
turn  our  eyes  to  England,  therefore,  from  whence  this  boun- 
teous tide  of  literature  pours  in  upon  us,  it  is  with  such  feel- 
ings as  the  Egyptian,  when  he  looks  toward  the  sacred 
source  of  that  stream,  which,  rising  in  a  far  distant  country, 
flows  down  upon  his  own  barren  soil,  diffusing  riches,  beauty, 
and  fertility. 

"  Surely  it  cannot  be  the  interest  of  Great  Britian  to  trifle 


OF    THOMAS    CAMPBKLL.  XXI 

with  such  feelings.  Surely  the  good-will,  thus  cherished 
among  the  best  hearts  of  a  country,  rapidlj^  increasing  in 
power  and  importance,  is  of  too  much  consequence  to  be 
scornfully  neglected  or  surlily  dashed  away.  It  most  cer- 
tainly therefore  would  be  both  politic  and  honorable,  for 
those  enlightened  British  writers,  who  sway  the  sceptre  of 
criticism,  to  expose  these  constant  misrepresentations  and 
discountenance  these  galling  and  unworthy  insults  of  the 
pen,  whose  effect  is  to  mislead  and  to  irritate,  without  serving 
one  valuable  purpose.  They  engender  gross  prejudices 
in  great  Brttian,  inimical  to  a  proper  national  understanding, 
while  with  us  they  wither  all  those  feelings  of  kindness  and 
consanguinity,  that  were  shooting  forth,  like  so  many  ten- 
drils, to  attach  us  to  our  parent  country. 

"  While  therefore  we  regard  the  poem  of  Mr  Campbell 
with  complacency,  as  evincing  an  opposite  spirit  to  this,  of 
which  we  have  just  complained,  there  are  other  reasons  like- 
wise, which  interest  \is  in  its  favor.  Among  the  lesser  evils, 
incident  to  the  infant  state  of  our  country,  we  have  to  lament 
its  almost  total  deficiency  in  those  local  associations  produced 
by  history  and  moral  fiction.  These  may  appear  trivial  to 
the  common  mass  of  readers ;  but  the  mind  of  taste  and  sensi- 
bility will  at  once  acknowledge  it,  as  constituting  a  great 
source  of  national  pride,  and  love  of  country.  There  is  an 
inexpressible  charm  imparted  to  every  place,  that  has  been 
celebrated  by  the  historian,  or  immortalized  by  the  poet;  a 
charm  that  dignifies  it  in  the  eyes  of  the  stranger,  and  endears 
it  to  the  heart  of  the  native  inhabitant.  Of  this  romantic  at- 
traction we  are  almost  entirely  destitute.  While  every  insig- 
nificant hill  and  turbid  stream  in  classic  Europe  has  been 
hallowed  by  the  visitations  of  the  muse,  and  contemplated 
with  fond  enthusiasm  ;  our  lofty  mountains  and  stupendous 
cataracts  excite  no  poetical  feelings,  and  our  majestic  rivers 
roll  their  waters  unheeded,  because  unsung. 

"  Thus  circumstanced,  the  sweet  strains  of  Mr.  Campbell's 
muse  break  upon  us  as  gladly  as  would  the  pastoral  pipe  of 
the  sheperd,  amid  the  savage  solitude  of  one  of  our  trackless 


XXU  BIOCUAPHICAL     SKETCH 

wildernesses.  We  are  delighted  to  witness  the  air  of  capti- 
vating romance,  and  rural  beauty  our  native  fields  and  wild 
woods  can  assume  under  the  plastic  pencil  of  a  master  ;  and 
while  wandering  with  the  poet  among  the  shady  groves  of 
Wj'oming,  or  along  the  banks  of  the  Susquehanna,  almost 
fancy  ourselves  transported  to  the  side  of  some  classic  stream, 
in  the  "  hollow  breastof  Appenine."  This  may  assist  to  con- 
vince many,  who  were  before  slow  to  believe,  that  our  own 
country  is  capable  of  inspiring  the  highest  poetic  feelings  and 
furnishing  abundance  of  poetic  imagery,  though  destitute  of 
the  hackneyed  materials  of  poetry;  though  its  groves  are  not 
vocal  with  the  song  of  the  nightingale ;  though  no  naiads 
have  ever  sported  in  its  streams,  nor  satyrs  and  driads  gam- 
bolled among  its  forests.  "Wherever  nature  displays  herself 
in  simple  beauty  or  wild  magnificence,  and  wherever  the  hu- 
man mind  appears  in  new  and  striking  situations,  neither  the 
poet  nor  the  philosopher  can  want  subjects  worthy  of  his 
genius." 

As  we  before  remarked,  the  lapse  of  thirty  years  has  mate- 
rially impaired  the  cogency  of  the  forgoing  remarks.  The 
acrimony  and  traduction  of  the  British  press  produced  the 
effect  apprehended,  and  contributed  to  hasten  a  war  between 
the  two  nations.  That  war,  however,  made  us  completely  a 
nation,  and  destroyed  our  mental  dependence  on  England 
forever.  A  literature  of  our  own  has  subsequently  sprung 
up,  and  is  daily  increasing  with  wonderful  fecundity ;  prom- 
ising to  counteract  the  undue  influence  of  British  literature, 
and  to  furnish  us  with  productions  in  all  departments  of 
taste  and  knowledge,  illustrative  of  our  country,  its  history 
and  its  people,  and  in  harmony  with  our  condition  and  the 
nature  of  our  institutions. 

We  have  but  a  word  or  two  to  add  concerning  Mr.  Camp- 
bell. In  1810  he  published  "  O'Connor's  Child,  or  Love  lies 
Bleeding,"  an  uncommonly  spirited  and  aff*ecting  little  tale. 
Since  then  he  has  given  at  intervals  a  variety  of  minor  poems 
to  the  public,  all  possessing  the  same  beauty  of  thought  and 
delicacy  of  finish  that  distinguished  his  early  productions.    If 


OF    THOMAS    CAMPBELL.  XXIII 

some  disappointment  has  been  experienced  by  his  admirers, 
that  he  has  not  effected  any  of  those  grand  achievements  in 
poetry  which  had  been  anticipated  from  his  juvenile  perfor- 
mances, they  should  congratulate  themselves  that  he  has  nev" 
er  sunk  from  the  pure  and  elevated  height  to  which  he  so  sud- 
denly attained.  Many  years  since,  we  hailed  the  productions 
of  his  muse  as  "  beaming  forth  like  the  pure  lights  of  heav- 
en, among  the  meteor  exhalations  and  paler  fires  with  which 
our  literary  atmosphere  abounds;"  since  that  time  many  of 
those  meteors  and  paler  fires  that  dazzled  and  bewildered  the 
public  eye,  have  fallen  to  the  earth  and  passed  away,  and  still 
we  find  his  poems  like  the  stars,  shining  on,  with  undiminish- 
ed lustre. 


GERTRUDE  OF  "WYOMING. 


PART  I. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 

Most  of  the  popular  histories  of  England,  as  well  as  of 
the  American  war,  give  an  authentic  account  of  the  desola- 
tion of  Wyoming,  in  Pennsylvania,  which  took  place  in  1778, 
by  an  incursion  of  the  Indians.  The  scenery  and  incidents  of 
the  following  Poem  are  connected  with  that  event.  The  tes- 
timonies of  historians  and  travellers  concur  in  describing  the 
infant  colony  as  one  of  the  happiest  spots  of  human  existence, 
for  the  hospitable  and  innocent  manners  of  the  inhabitants, 
the  beauty  of  the  country,  and  the  luxuriant  fertility  of  the 
soil  and  climate.  In  an  evil  hour,  the  junction  of  European 
with  Indian  arms  converted  this  terrestrial  paradise  into  a 
frightful  waste.  Mr.  Isaac  Weld  informs  us  that  the  ruins 
of  many  of  the  villages,  perforated  with  balls,  and  bearing 
marks  of  conflagration,  were  still  preserved  by  the  recent  in- 
habitants, when  he  travelled  through  America,  in  1796. 


GERTRUDE  OF  WYOMING. 


PART  I. 


On  Susquehannah's  side,  fair  Wyoming ! 
Although  the  wild-flower  on  thy  ruin'd  wall, 
And  roofless  homes,  a  sad  remembrance  bring 
Of  what  thy  gentle  people  did  befall, 
Yet  thou  wert  once  the  loveliest  land  of  all 
That  see  the  Atlantic  wave  their  morn  restore. 
Sweet  land  1  may  I  thy  lost  delights  recall, 
And  paint  thy  Gertrude  in  her  bowers  of  yore, 
Whose   beauty  was  the  love  of   Pennsylvania  s 
shore ! 

II. 

Delightful  Wyoming !  beneath  thy  skies. 
The  happy  shepherd  swains  had  nought  to  do 
But  feed  their  flocks  on  green  declivities, 
Or  skim  perchance  thy  lake  with  light  canoe, 
From  morn  till  evening's  sweeter  pastime  grew. 
With  timbrel,  when  beneath  the  forests  brown, 
Thy  lovely  maidens  would  the  dance  renew ; 


4  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

And  aye  those  sunny  mountains  half-way  down 
Would  echo  flagelet  from  some  romantic  town. 

III. 

Then,  where  of  Indian  hills  the  daylight  takes 
His  leave,  how  might  you  the  flamingo  see 
Disporting  like  a  meteor  on  the  lakes — 
And  playful  squirrel  on  his  nut-grown  tree : 
And  every  sound  of  life  was  full  of  glee, 
From  merry  mock-bird's  song,  or  hum  of  men  ; 
While  hearkening,  fearing  nought  their  revelry, 
The  wild  deer  arched  his  neck  from  glades,  and 

then 
Unhunted,  sought  his  woods  and  wilderness  again. 

IV. 

And  scarce  had  Wyoming  of  war  or  crime 
Heard,  but  in  Transatlantic  story  rung. 
For  here  the  exile  met  from  every  clime. 
And  spoke  in  friendship  every  distant  tongue : 
Men  from  the  blood  of  warring  Europe  sprung, 
Were  but  divided  by  the  running  brook  ; 
And  happy  where  no  Rhenish  trumpet  sung, 
On  plains  no  seiging  mine's  volcano  shook. 
The  blue-eyed  German  changed  his  sword  to  pru- 
ning-hook, 

V. 

Nor  far  some  Andalusian  saraband 

Would  sound  to  many  a  native  roundelay — 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING.  O 

But  who  is  he  that  yet  a  dearer  land 
Remembers,  over  hills  and  far  away  ? 
Green  Albin  !*  what  though  he  no  more  survey 
Thy  ships  at  anchor  on  the  quiet  shore, 
Thy  pellochsf  rolling  from  the  mountain  bay. 
Thy  lone  sepulchral  cairn  upon  the  moor, 
And  distant  isles  that  hear  the  loud  Corbrechta 
roar  !J 

VI. 

Alas  !  poor  Caledonia's  mountaineer, 
That  want's  stern  edict  e'er,  and  feudal  grief. 
Had  forced  him  from  a  home  he  loved  so  dear  ! 
Yet  found  he  here  a  home,  and  glad  relief. 
And  plied  the  beverage  from  his  own  fair  sheaf, 
That  fired  his  Highland  blood  with  mickle  glee : 
And  England  sent  her  men,  of  men  the  chief. 
Who  taught  those  sires  of  Empire  yet  to  be. 
To  plant  the  tree  of  life, — to  plant  fair  Freedom's 
tree  ! 

VII. 

Here  were  not  mingled  in  the  city's  pomp 
To  life's  extremes  the  grandeur  and  the  gloom  ; 
Judgment  awoke  not  here  her  dismal  tromp. 
Nor  seaPd  in  blood  a  fellow-creature's  doom, 

*  Scotland. 

t  The  Gaelic  appellation  for  the  porpoise. 

J  The  great  whirlpool  of  the  Western  Hebrides. 

3* 


6 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 


Nor  mourn'd  the  captive  in  a  living  tomb. 
One  venerable  man,  beloved  of  all, 
Sufficed,  where  innocence  was  yet  in  bloom, 
To  sway  the  strife  that  seldom  might  befall : 
And  Albert  was  their  judge  in  patriarchal  hall. 

VIII. 

How  reverend  was  the  look,  serenely  aged, 
He  bore,  this  gentle  Pennsylvanian  sire, 
Where  all  but  kindly  fervours  were  assuaged, 
Undimm'd  by  weakness'  shade,  or  turbid  ire  ! 
And  though,  amidst  the  calm  of  thought  entire, 
Some  high  and  haughty  features  might  betray 
A  soul  impetuous  once,  'twas  earthly  fire 
That  fled  composure's  intellectual  ray. 
As  iEtna's  fires,  grow  dim  before  the  rising  day. 

IX. 

I  boast  no  song  in  magic  wonders  rife. 
But  yet,  oh  Nature  !  is  there  nought  to  prize, 
Familiar  in  thy  bosom  scenes  of  life  ? 
And  dwells  in  daylight  truth's  salubrious  skies 
No  form  with  which  the  soul  may  sympathise  ? 
Young,  innocent,  on  whose  sweet  forehead  mild 
The  parted  ringlet  shone  in  simplest  guise, 
An  inmate  in  the  home  of  Albert  smiled, 
Or  blessed  his  noon-day  walk — she  was  his  only 
child. 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING.  '  * 

X. 

The   rose   of    England   bloomed   on   Gertrude's 

cheek — 
What  though  these  shades  had  seen  her  birth,  her 

sire 
A  Briton's  independence  taught  to  seek 
Far  western  worlds  ;  and  there  his  household  fire 
The  light  of  social  love  did  long  inspire, 
And  many  a  halcyon  day  he  lived  to  see 
Unbroken  but  by  one  misfortune  dire, 
When  fate  had  'reft  his  mutual  heart — ^but  she 
Was  gone — and  Gertrude  chmb'd  a  widow'd  fa- 
ther's knee. 

XI. 

A  loved  bequest, — and  I  may  half  impart. 

To  them  that  feel  the  strong  paternal  tie, 

How  like  a  new  existence  to  his  heart 

That  living  flower  uprose  beneath  his  eye. 

Dear  as  she  was  from  cherub  infancy. 

From  hours  when  she  would  round  his  garden 

play, 
To  time  when  as  the  ripening  years  went  by. 
Her  lovely  mind  could  culture  well  repay. 
And  more  engaging  grew,  from  pleasing  day  to  day. 

XII, 

I  may  not  paint  those  thousand  infant  charms  ; 
(Unconscious  fascination,  undesigned  !) 


8  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

The  orison  repeated  in  his  arms, 
For  God  to  bless  her  sire  and  all  mankind  ; 
The  book,  the  bosom  on  his  knee  reclined, 
Or  how  sweet  fairy-lore  he  heard  her  con, 
(The  playmate  ere  the  teacher  of  her  mind  :) 
All  uncompanion'd  else  her  heart  had  gone 
Till  now,  in  Gertrude's  eyes,  their  ninth  blue  sum- 
mer shone. 

XIII. 

And  summer  was  the  tide,  and  sweet  the  hour, 
When  sire  and  daughter  saw,  with  fleet  descent, 
An  Indian  from  his  bark  approach  their  bower. 
Of  buskin' d  limb,  and  swarthy  lineament ; 
The  red  wild  feathers  on  his  brow  were  blent. 
And  bracelets  bound  the  arm  that  help'd  to  light 
A  boy,  who  seem'd,  as  he  beside  him  went, 
Of  Christian  vesture,  and  complexion  bright. 
Led  by  his  dusky  guide,  hke  morning  brought  by 
night. 

XIV. 

Yet  pensive  seem'd  the  boy  for  one  so  young — 
The  dimple  from  his  polish'd  cheek  had  fled  ; 
When,  leaning  on  his  forest-bow  unstrung, 
Th'  Oneida  warrior  to  the  planter  said. 
And  laid  his  hand  upon  the  stripling's  head, 
"  Peace  be  to  thee  !  my  words  this  belt  approve  ; 
The  paths  of  peace  my  steps  have  hither  led  : 


GRETRUDE    OF    WYOMING.  9 

This  little  nursling,  take  him  to  thy  love, 
And  shield  the  bird  unfledged,  since  gone  the  pa- 
rent dove. 

XV. 

"  Christian  !  I  am  the  foeman  of  thy  foe  ; 
Our  wampum  league  thy  brethren  did  embrace  : 
Upon  the  Michigan,  three  moons  ago, 
We  launch'd  our  pirogues  for  the  bison  chase, 
And  w  ith  the  Hurons  planted  for  a  space, 
With  true  and  faithful  hands,  the  olive  stalk  ; 
But  snakes  are  in  the  bosoms  of  their  race. 
And  though  they  held  with  us  a  friendly  talk, 
The  hollow  peace-tree  fell  beneath   their  toma- 
kawk ! 

XVI. 

^'  It  was  encamping  on  the  lake's  far  port, 
A  cry  of  Areouski*  broke  our  sleep. 
Where  storm'd  an  ambush'd  foe  thy  nation's  fort, 
And  rapid,  rapid  whoops  came  o'er  the  deep ; 
But  long  thy  country's  war-sign  on  the  steep 
Appear'd  through  ghastly  intervals  of  light, 
And  deathfully  their  thunder  seem'd  to  sweep, 
Till  utter  darkness  swallow'd  up  the  sight, 
As  if  a  shower    of  blood   had  quench' d  the  fiery 
fight! 

*  The  Indian  God  of  War. 


10  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

XVII. 

"  It  slept — it  rose  again — on  high  their  tower 
Sprang  upward  hke  a  torch  to  Hght  the  skies, 
Then  down  again  it  rain'd  an  ember  shower, 
And  louder  lamentations  heard  we  rise  ; 
As  when  the  evil  Manitou,*  that  dries 
Th'  Ohio  woods,  consumes  them  in  his  ire. 
In  vain  the  desolated  panther  flies, 
And  howls  amidst  his  wilderness  of  fire : 
Alas !  too  late,  we  reach'd  and  smote  those  Hu- 
rons  dire ! 

XVIII. 

"  But  as  the  fox  beneath  the  nobler  hound. 
So  died  their  warriors  by  our  battle  brand  ; 
And  from  the  tree  we,  with  her  child,  unbound 
A  lonely  mother  of  the  Christian  land  : — 
Her  lord — the  captain  of  the  British  band — 
Amidst  the  slaughter  of  his  soldiers  lay. 
Scarce  knew  the  widow  our  delivering  hand  ; 
Upon  her  child  she  sobb'd,  and  swoon'd  away, 
Or  shriek'd  unto  the  God  to  whom  the  Christians 
pray. 

XIX. 

"  Our  virgins  fed  her  with  their  kindly  bowls 
Of  fever-balm  and  sweet  sagamite  : 
But  she  was  journeying  to  the  land  of  souls, 
And  lifted  up  her  dying  head  to  pray 

♦  Manitou,  Spirit  or  Deity. 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING.  II 

That  we  should  bid  an  ancient  friend  convey 
Her  orphan  to  his  home  of  England's  shore  ; — 
And  take,  she  said,  this  token  far  away, 
To  one  that  will  remember  us  of  yore. 
When  he  beholds  the  ring  that  Waldegrave's  Ju- 
lia wore. 

XX. 

"  And  I,  the  eagle  of  my  tribe,*  have  rush'd 
With  this  lorn  dove." — A  sage's  self-command 
Had  quell'd  the   tears  from  Albert's  heart  that 

gush'd 
But  yet  his  cheek — his  agitated  hand — 
That  shower' d  upon  the  stranger  of  the  land 
No  common  boon,  in  grief  but  ill-beguiled 
A  soul  that  was  not  wont  to  be  unmann'd ; 
^'  And  stay,"  he  cried,   "  dear  pilgrim  of  the  wild, 
Preserver    of    my    old,    my    boon    companion's 

child!— 

XXI. 

<'  Child  of  a  race  whose  name  my  bosom  Warms, 
On  earth's  remotest  bounds  how  welcome   here  ! 
Whose  mother  oft,  a  child,  has  fill'd  these  arms, 
Young  as  thyself,  and  innocently  dear, 

*  The  Indians  are  distinguished,  both  personally  and  by  tribes,  by  the 
names  of  particular  animals,  whose  qualities  they  affect  to  resemble,  either 
for  cunning,  strength,  swiftness,  or  other  qualities :— as  the  eagle,  the 
serpent,  the  fox,  or  bear. 


12  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMiNG. 

Whose  grandsire  was  my  early  life's  compeer. 
Ah,  happiest  home  of  England's  happy  clime  ! 
How  beautiful  e'en  now  thy  scenes  appear, 
As  in  the  noon  and  sunshine  of  my  prime  ! 
How  gone  like  yesterday  these  thrice  ten  years  of 
time  ! 

XXII. 

"And,    Julia!    when   thou  wert  hke    Gertrude 

now, 
Can  I  forget  thee,  favorite  child  of  yore  ? 
Or  thought  I,  in  thy  father's  house,  when  thou 
Wert  lightest  hearted  on  his  festive  floor. 
And  first  of  all  his  hospitable  door 
To  meet  and  kiss  me  at  my  journey's  end  ? 
But  where  was  I  when  Waldegrave  was  no  more  ? 
And  thou  did'st  pale  thy  gentle  head  extend 
In  woes,  that  e'en  the  tribe  of  deserts   was  thy 

friend !" 

XXIIl. 

He  said — and  strain'd  unto  his  heart  the  boy  : — 

Far  differently  the  mute  Oneida  took 

His  calumet  of  peace,  and  cup  of  joy  ;* 

As  monumental  bronze  unchanged  his  look  ; 

A  soul  that  pity  touch'd  but  never  shook ; 

♦  Calumet,  of  Peace.— The  calumet  is  the  Indian  name  for  the  ornamen- 
tal pipe  of  friendsliip,  which  they  smoke  as  a  pledge  of  amity. 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING.  13 

Trained  from  his  tree-rock'd  cradle*  to  his  bier 
The  fierce  extremes  of  good  and  ill  to  brook, 
Impassive — fearing  but  the  shame  of  fear — 
A  stoic  of  the  woods — a  man  without  a  tear. 

XXIV. 

Yet  deem  not  goodness  on  the  savage  stock 
Of  Outalissi's  heart  disdain' d  to  grow  ; 
As  lives  the  oak  unwither'd  on  the  rock, 
By  storms  above,  and  barrenness  below  ; 
He  scorn'd  his  own,  who  felt  another's  wo  ; 
And  ere  the  wolf-skin  on  his  back  he  flung, 
Or  laced  his  moccasins,  in  act  to  go, 
A  song  of  parting  to  the  boy  he  sung, 
Who  slept  on  Albert's  couch,  nor  heard  his  friend- 
ly tongue. 

XXV. 

"  Sleep,  wearied  one  !  and  in  the  dreaming  land 

Shouldst  thou  to-morrow  with  thy  mother  meet, 

Oh  !  tell  her  spirit  that  the  white  man's  hand 

Hath  pluck' d  the  thorns  of  sorrow  from  thy  feet ; 

While  I  in  lonely  wilderness  shall  greet 

Thy  little  footprints — or  by  traces  know 

The  fountain,  where  at  noon  I  thought  it  sweet 


*  Tree-rocked  cradle. — The  Indian  mothers  suspend  their  children  in 
their  cradles  from  the  bouglis  of  trees,  and  let  them  be  rocked  by  the 
wind 


14  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

To  feed  thee  with  the  quarry  of  my  bow, 
And  pour'd  the  lotus-horn,*  or  slew  the  mountain 
roe. 

XXVI. 

"  Adieu  !  sweet  scion  of  the  rising  sun  ! 
But  should  affliction's  storms  thy  blossom  mock. 
Then  come  again — my  own  adopted  one, 
And  I  will  graft  thee  on  a  noble  stock ; 
The  crocodile,  the  condor  of  the  rock, 
Shall  be  the  pastime  of  thy  sylvan  wars  ; 
And  I  will  teach  thee,  in  the  battle's  shock, 
To  pay  with  Huron  blood  thy  father's  scars. 
And  gratulate  his  soul  rejoicing  in  the  stars  V* 

XXVII. 

So  finishM  he  the  rhyme  (howe'er  uncouth) 
That  true  to  nature's  fervid  feelings  ran, 
(And  song  is  but  the  eloquence  of  truth  :) 
Then  forth  uprose  that  lone  wayfaring  man  J 
But  dauntless  he,  nor  chart,  nor  journey's  plan 
In  woods  required,  whose  trained  eye  was  keen 
As  eagle  of  the  wilderness  to  scan 
His  path,  by  mountain,  swamp,  or  deep  ravine. 
Or  ken  far  friendly  huts  on  good  savannas  green. 

*  From  a  flower  shaped  like  a  horn,  which  Chateaubriand  presumes  to 
beof  the  totUB  kind,  the  Indians  in  their  travels  though  the  desert  often 
And  a  draught  of  dew  purer  than  any  other  water. 

f. 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING,  15 

XXVIII. 

Old  Albert  saw  him  from  the  valley's  side — 
His   pirogue    launch'd — his    pilgrimage  begun — 
Far,  like  the  red-bird's  wing  he  seem'd  to  glide ; 
Then  dived,  and  vanished  in  the  woodlands  dun. 
Oft,  to  that  spot  by  tender  memory  won, 
Would  Albert  climb  the  promontory's  height, 
If  but  a  dim  sail  glimmer'd  in  the  sun ; 
But  never  more,  to  bless  his  longing  sight. 
Was  Outalissi   hail'd,    with  bark    and   plumage 
bright. 


GERTRUDE  OF  WYOMING. 


PART  II. 


4# 


GERTRUDE  OF  WYOMING. 


PART  II. 


A  VALLEY  from  the  river-shore  withdrawn 
Was  Albert's  home,  two  quiet  woods  between, 
Whose  lofty  verdure  overlook' d  his  lawn  ; 
And  waters  to  their  resting-place  serene 
Came  freshening,  and  reflecting  all  the  scene, 
(A  mirror  in  the  depth  of  flowery  shelves ;) 
So  sweet  a  spot  of  earth,  you  might  (I  ween) 
Have  guess'd  some  congregation  of  the  elves. 
To  sport  by  summer   moons,  had    shaped  it  for 
themselves. 

II. 

Yet  wanted  not  the  eye  far  scope  to  muse. 
Nor  vistas  open'd  by  the  wandering  stream  ; 
Both  where  at  evening  Allegany  views. 
Through  ridges  burning  in  her  western  beam, 
Lake  after  lake  interminably  gleam : 
And  past  those  settler's  haunts  the  eye  might  roam 
Where  earth's  unliving  silence  all  would  seem ; 


20  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

Save  where  on  rocks  the  beaver  built  his  dome, 
Or  buffalo  remote  low'd  far  from  human  home. 

III. 
But  silent  not  that  adverse  eastern  path, 
Which  saw  Aurora's  hills  th'  horizon  crown ; 
There  was  the  river  heard,  in  bed  of  wrath, 
(A  precipice  of  foam  from  mountains  brown,) 
Like  tumults  heard  from  some  far  distant  town ; 
But  softening  in  approach  he  left  his  gloom, 
And  murmur'd  pleasantly,  and  laid  him  down 
To  kiss  those  easy  curving  banks  of  bloom, 
That  lent  the  windward  air  an  exquisite  perfume. 

IV. 

It  seem'd  as  if  those  scenes  sweet  influence  had 
On  Gertrude's  soul,  and  kindness  like  their  own 
Inspired  those  eyes  affectionate  and  glad. 
That  seem'd  to  love  whate'er  they  looked  upon  ; 
Whether  with  Hebe's  mirth  her  features  shone, 
Or  if  a  shade  more  pleasing  them  o'ercast, 
(As  if  for  heavenly  musing  meant  alone,) 
Yet  so  becomingly  th'  expression  past. 
That  each  succeeding  look  was  loveher  than  the 
last. 

V. 

Nor,  guess  I,  was  that  Pennsylvanian  home. 
With  all  its  picturesque  and  balmy  grace, 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING.  21 

And  fields  that  were  a  luxury  to  roam, 

Lost  on  the  soul  that  look'd  from  such  a  face  ! 

Enthusiast  of  the  woods  !  when  years  apace 

Had  bound  thy  lovely  waist  with  woman's  zone, 

The  sunrise  path,  at  morn,  I  see  thee  trace 

To  hills  with  high  magnolia  overgrown, 

And  joy  to  breathe  the  groves,  romantic  and  alone. 

VI. 

The  sunrise  drew  her  thoughts  to  Europe  forth, 

That  thus  apostrophized  its  viewless  scene  : 

"  Land  of  my  father's  love,  my  mother's  birth  ! 

The  home  of  kindred  I  have  never  seen  ! 

We  know  not  other — oceans  are  between  : 

Yet  say  !  far  friendly  hearts,  from  whence  we  came, 

Of  us  does  oft  remembrance  intervene  ? 

My  mother,  sure — ^my  sire — a  thought  may  claim  ; 

But  Gertrude  is  to  you  an  unregarded  name. 

VII. 

^'  And  yet,  loved  England  !  when  thy  name  I  trace 
In  many  a  pilgrim's  tale  and  poet's  song, 
How  can  I  choose  but  wish  for  one  embrace 
Of  them,  the  dear  unknown,  to  whom  belong 
My  mother's  looks, — perhaps  her  hkeness  strong  ? 
Oh,  parent !  with  what  reverential  awe. 
From  features  of  thine  own  related  throng, 
An  image  of  thy  face  my  soul  could  draw ! 
And  see  thee  once  again  whom  I  too  shortly  saw  !" 


22  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

VIII. 

Yet  deem  not  Gertrude  sigh'd  for  foreign  joy  ; 
To  soothe  a  father's  couch,  her  only  care, 
And  keep  his  reverend  head  from  all  annoy  : 
For  this,  methinks  her  homeward  steps  repair. 
Soon  as  the  morning  wreath  had  bound  her  hair ; 
While  yet  the  wild  deer  trod  in  spangling  dew. 
While  boatmen  caroU'd  to  the  fresh-blown  air, 
And  woods  a  horizontal  shadow  threw, 
An  early  fox  appeared  in  momentary  view. 

IX. 

Apart  there  was  a  deep  untrodden  grot, 
Where  oft  the  reading  hours  sweet  Gertrude  wore  ; 
Tradition  had  not  named  its  lonely  spot ; 
But  here  (methinks)  might  India's  sons  explore 
Their  father's  dust,  *  or  lift  perchance  of  yore, 
Their  voice  to  the  great  Spirit : — rocks  sublime 
To  human  art  a  sportive  semblance  bore. 
And  yellow  lichens  color'd  all  the  clime. 
Like  moonlight  battlements,  and  towers  decay'd 
by  time. 


But  high  in  amphitheatre  above, 

Gay  tinted  woods  their  massy  foliage  threw : 

*  It  is  a  custom  of  the  Indian  tribes  to  visit  the  tombs  of  their  ances- 
tors in  the  cultivated  parts  of  America,  who  have  been  buried  for  up- 
wards of  a  century. 


/ 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING.  23 

Breathed  but  an  air  of  heaven,  and  all  the  grove 
As  if  instinct  with  living  spirit  grew, 
Rolling  its  verdant  gulfs  of  every  hue  ; 
And  now  suspended  was  the  pleasing  din. 
Now  from  a  murmur  faint  it  swell' d  anew, 
Like  the  first  note  of  organ  heard  within 
Cathedral  aisles, — ere  yet  its  symphony  begin. 

XI. 

It  was  in  this  lone  valley  she  would  charm 

The   lingering   noon,  where  flowers  a  couch  had 

strewn  ; 
Her  cheek  reclining,  and  her  snowy  arm 
On  hillock  by  the  palm-tree  half  o'ergrown  : 
And  aye  that  volume  on  her  lap  is  thrown, 
Which  every  heart  of  human  mould  exdears  ; 
With   Shakspeare's  self  she   speaks    and    smiles 

alone, 
And  no  intruding  visitation  fears, 
To  shame    the  unconscious   laugh,   or    stop   her 

sweetest  tears. 

XII. 

And  nought  within  the  grove  was  seen  or  heard 
But  stock-doves  plaining  through  its  gloom  pro- 
found, 
Or  winglet  of  the  fairy  humming-bird, 
Like  atoms  of  the  rainbow  fluttering  round  ; 
When,  lo  !  there  enter'd  to  its  inmost  ground 


24  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

A  youth,  the  stranger  of  a  distant  land  ; 
He  was,  to  weet,  for  eastern  mountains  bound  ; 
But  late  th'  equator  suns  his  cheek  had  tann'd, 
And  California's  gales  his  roving  bosom  fann'd. 

XIII. 

A  steed,  whose  rein  hung  loosely  o'er  his  arm, 
He  led  dismounted  ;  ere  his  leisure  pace, 
Amid  the  brown  leaves,  could  her  ear  alarm, 
Close  he  had  come,  and  worshipp'd  for  a  space 
Those  downcast  features  : — she  her  lovely  face 
Uplift  on  one,  whose  lineaments  and  frame 
Wore  youth  and  manhood's  intermingled  grace  ; 
Iberian  seem'd  his  boot — his  robe  the  same. 
And  well  the  Spanish  plume  his  lofty   looks  be- 
came. 

XIV. 

For  Albert's  home  he  sought — ^her  finger  fair 
Has  pointed  where  the  father's  mansion  stood. 
Returning  from  the  copse,  he  soon  was  there  : 
And  soon  has  Gertrude  hied  from  dark  greenwood  ; 
Nor  joyless,  by  the  converse,  understood 
Between  the  man  of  age  and  pilgrim  young, 
That  gay  congeniality  of  mood, 
And  early  liking  from  acquaintance  sprung ; 
Full  fluently  conversed  their  guest  in  England's 
tongue. 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 


XV. 


And  well  could  he  his  pilgrimage  of  taste 

Unfold,— and  much  they  loved   his  fervid  strain, 

While  he  each  fair  variety  retraced 

Of  climes,  and  manners,  o'er  the  eastern  main. 

Now  happy  Switzer's  hills, — romantic  Spain, — 

Gay  lilied  fields  of  France, — or  more  refined, 

The  soft  Ausonia's  monumental  reign  ; 

Nor  less  each  rural  image  he  designed 

Than  all  the  city's  pomp  and  home  of  human  kind. 

XVI. 

Anon  some  wilder  portraiture  he  draws  ; 
Of  Nature's  savage  glories  he  would  speak, — 
The  loneliness  of  earth  that  overawes, — 
Where,  resting  by  some  tomb  of  old  caciqu^, 
The  lama-driver  on  Peru  via' s  peak 
Nor  living  voice  nor  motion  marks  around  ; 
But  storks  that  to  the  boundless  forest  shriek, 
Or  wild-cane  arch  high  flung  o'er  gulf  profound,* 
That  fluctuates  when  the  storms   of  El  Dorado 
sound. 

XVII. 

Pleased  with  his  guest,  the  good  man  still  would 

ply 
Each  earnest  question,  and  his  converse  court ; 

*  The  bridges  oVer  narrow  streams  in  many  parts  of  Spanish  America 
are  said  to  be  built  of  cane,  which,  however  strong  to  support  the  passen- 


26  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

But  Gertrude,  as  she  eyed  him,  knew  not  why 
A  strange  and  troubling  wonder  stopt  her  short. 
"  In  England  thou  hast  been, — and,  by  report, 
An  orphan's  name   (quoth  Albert)    may'st  have 

known. 
Sad  tale  ! — ^when  latest  fell  our  frontier  fort, — 
One  innocent — one  soldier's  child — alone 
Was  spared,  and  brought  to  me,  who  loved  him 

as  my  own. — 

XVIII. 

"  Young  Henry  WaldegTave !  three  dehghtful  years 
These  very  walls  his  infant  sports  did  see  : 
But  most  I  loved  him  when  his  parting  tears 
Alternately  bedew'd  my  child  and  me  : 
His  sorest  parting,  Gertrude,  was  from  thee  ; 
Nor  half  its  grief  his  little  heart  could  hold  ; 
By  kindred  he  was  sent  for  o'er  the  sea  ; 
They  tore  him  from  us  when  but  twelve  years  old, 
And  scarcely  for  his  loss  have  I  been  yet  con- 
soled!'^ 

XIX. 

His  face  the  wanderer  hid — -but  could  not  hide 
A  tear,  a  smile,  upon  his  cheek  that  dwell ; — 
"  And  speak  !    mysterious  stranger !"    (Gertrude 
cried) 

ger,  are  yet  waved  in  the  agitation  of  the  storm,  and  ftvquently  add  to 
the  eflect  of  a  mountainous  and  picturesque  scenery. 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING.  27 

^^  It  is  ! — it  is  ! — I  knew — I  knew  him  well ! 
'Tis    Waldegrave's   self,  of  Waldegrave  come  to 

tell  !'^ 
A  burst  of  joy  the  father's  lips  declare, 
But  Gertrude  speechless  on  his  bosom  fell ; 
At  once  his  open  arms  embraced  the  pair — 
Was  never  group   more  blest,  in  this  wide  world 

of  care. 

XX. 

"  And  will  ye  pardon,  then,  (rephed  the  youth) 

Your  Waldegrave's  feigned  name,  and  false  attire  ? 

I  durst  not  in  the  neighborhood,  in  truth, 

The  very  fortunes  of  your  house  inquire. 

Lest  one  that  knew  me  might  some  tidings  dire 

Impart,  and  I  my  weakness  all  betray  ; 

For  had  I  lost  my  Gertrude  and  my  sire, 

I  meant  but  o'er  your  tombs  to  weep  a  day. 

Unknown  I  meant  to  weep,  unknown  to  pass  away. 

XXI. 

"But   here   ye  live, — ye   bloom, — in   each  dear 

face 
The  changing  hand  of  time  I  may  not  blame  ; 
For  there,  it  hath  but  shed  more  reverend  grace, 
And  here,  of  beauty  perfected  the  frame : 
And  well  I  know  your  hearts  are  still  the  same — 
They  could  not  change — ye  look  the  very  way 
As  when  an  orphan  first  to  you  I  came. 


28  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

And  have  ye  heard  of  my  p-^or  guide,  I  pray  ? 
Nay,  wherefore  weep  ye,  friends,  on  such  a  joy- 
ous day  ?" 

xxn. 

^'  And  art  thou  here  ?  or  is  it  but  a  dream  ? 

And  wilt  thou,    Waldegrave,  wilt  thou,  leave  us 

more  ?" — 
*'  No,  never !  thou  that  yet  dost  lovelier  seem 
Than  aught  on  earth — ^than  e'en  thyself  of  yore — 
T  will  not  part  thee  from  thy  fa'l  er's  shore ; 
But  we  will  cherish  him  with  mutual  arms, 
And  hand  in  hand  again  the  path  explore, 
Which  every  ray  of  young  remembrance  warms, 
While  thou  shalt  be  my  own,  with  all  thy  truth 

and  charms  1" 

XXIII. 

At  morn,  as  if  beneath  a  galaxy 
Of  over-arching  groves  in  blossoms  white. 
Where  all  was  odorous  scent  and  harmony. 
And  gladness  to  the  heart,  nerve,  ear,  and  sight : 
There,  if,  oh  gentle  Love  !  I  read  aright 
The  utterance  that  seal'd  thy  sacred  bond, 
'Twas  listening  to  these  accents  of  delight. 
She  hid  upon  his  breast  those  eyes,  beyond 
Expression's  power  to  paint,  all  languishingly 
foni. 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 


29 


XXIV. 

"  Flower  of  my  life,  so  lovely,  and  so  lone  1 
Whom  I  would  rather  in  this  desert  meet, 
Scorning,  and  scorn' d  by   fortune's  power,  than 

own 
Her  pomp  and  splendors  lavish'd  at  my  feet ! 
Turn  not  from  me  thy  breath,  more  exquisite 
Than    odors   cast   on   heaven's    own   shrine,    to 

please — 
Give  me  thy  love,  than  luxury  more  sweet. 
And  more  than  all  the  wealth  that  loads  the  breeze, 
When  Coromandel's   ships   return    from   Indian 

sea'5." 

XXV. 

Then  would  that  home  admit  them — happier  far 
Than  grandeur's  most  magnificent  saloon. 
While  here  and  there,  a  solitary  star 
Flushed  in  the  darkening  firmament  of  June, 
And  silence  brought  the  soul-felt  hour,  full  soon, 
Ineffable,  which  I  may  not  portray  ; 
For  nev6r  did  the  hymenean  moon 
A  paradise  of  hearts  more  sacred  sway. 

In  all  that  slept  beneath  her  soft  voluptuous  ray. 

5# 


GERTRUDE  OE  WYOMING. 

I 


PART  III. 


GERTRUDE  OE  WYOMING. 


PART  III. 

I. 

O  Love  !  in  such  a  wilderness  as  this, 
Where  transport  and  security  entwine, 
Here  is  the  empire  of  thy  perfect  bUss, 
And  here  thou  art  a  god  indeed  divine. 
Here  shall  no  forms  abridge,  no  hours  confine 
The  views,  the  walks,  that  boundless  joy  inspire ! 
Roll  on,  ye  days  of  raptured  influence,  shine  ! 
Nor,  blind  with  ecstasy's  celestial  fire. 
Shall  love  behold  the    spark  of  earth-born  time 
expire. 

II. 

Three  little  moons,  how  short !  amidst  the  grove 

And  pastoral  savannas  they  consume. 

While  she,  beside  her  buskin'd  youth  to  rove. 

Delights,  in  fancifully  wild  costume. 

Her  lovely  brow  to  shade  with  Indian  plume  ; 

And  forth  in  hunter-seeming  vest  they  fare  ; 

But  not  to  chase  the  deer  in  forest  gloom  ; 


34  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

'Tis  but  the  breath  of  heaven — the  blessed  air — 
And  interchange  of  hearts,   unknown,  unseen  to 
share. 

III. 

What   though  the  sportive  dog   oft  round  them 

note, 
Or  fawn,  or  wild  bird  bursting  on  the  wing ; 
Yet  who,  in  love's  own  presence,  would  devote 
To  death  those  gentle  throats  that  wake  the  spring, 
Or  writhing  from  the  brook  its  victim  bring  ? 
No ! — nor  let  fear  one  little  warbler  rouse  ; 
But  fed  by  Gertrude's  hand,  still  let  them  sing, 
Acquaintance  of  her  path,  amidst  the  boughs. 
That  shade  e'en  now  her  love,  and  witness'd  first 

her  vow^s. 

IV. 

Now  labyrinths,  which  but  themselves  can  pierce, 
Methinks,  conduct  them  to  some  pleasant  ground. 
Where  welcome  hills  shut  out  the  universe. 
And  pines  their  lawny  walk  encompass  round  ; 
There,  if  a  pause  delicious  converse  found, 
'Twas  but  when  o'er  each  heart  th'  idea  stole, 
(Perchance  awhile  in  joy's  oblivion  drown'd,) 
That  come  what  may,   while   life's   glad   pulses 

roll, 
Indissolubly  thus  should  soul  be  knit  to  soul. 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING.  35 

V. 

And  in  the  visions  of  romantic  youth, 
What  years  of  endless  bliss  are  yet  to  flow  ? 
But,  mortal  pleasure,  what  art  thou  in  truth  ? 
The  torrent's  smoothness,  ere  it  dash  below ! 
And  must  I  change  my  song  ?  and  must  I  show, 
Sweet  Wyoming !  the  day  when  thou  wert  doom'd, 
Guiltless,  to  mourn  thy  lovehest  bowers  laid  low  ? 
When  where  of  yesterday  a  garden  bloom' d. 
Death  overspread   his  pafl,  and  blackening  ashes 
gloom'd  ? 

VI. 

Sad  was  the  year,  by  proud  oppression  driven, 

When  Transatlantic  Liberty  arose, 

Not  in  the  sunshine  and  the  smile  of  heaven. 

But  wrapt  in  whirlwinds  and  begirt  with  woes, 

Amidst  the  strife  of  fratricidal  foes ; 

Her  birth-star  was  the  light  of  burning  plains  ;* 

Her  baptism  is  the  weight  of  blood  that  flows 

From  kindred  hearts — the  blood  of  British  veins — 

And  famine  tracks  her  steps,  and  pestilential  pains. 

VII. 

Yet,  ere  the  storm  of  death  had  raged  remote, 
Or  siege  unseen  in  heaven  reflects  its  beams, 
Who  now  each  dreadful  circumstance  shall  note, 

*  Alluding  to  the  miseries  that  attended  the  American  civil  war. 


36  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

That  fills  pale  Gertrude's  thoughts,  and  nightly 

dreams  ? 
Dismal  to  her  the  forge  of  battle  gleams 
Portentous  light !  and  music's  voice  is  dumb  ; 
Save  where  the  fife  its  shrill  reveille  screams, 
Or  midnight  streets  re-echo  to  the  drum, 
That  speaks  of  maddening  strife,  and  bloodstain'd 

fields  to  come. 

vin. 
It  was  in  truth  a  momentary  pang  ; 
Yet  how  comprising  myriad  shapes  of  wo  ! 
First  when  in  Gertrude's  ear  the  summons  rang, 
A  husband  to  the  battle  doom'd  to  go ! 
"  Nay,  meet  not  thou  (she  cries)  thy  kindred  foe, 
But  peaceful  let  us  seek  fair  England's  strand ;" 
*'  Ah,  Gertrude  !  thy  beloved  heart,  I  know. 
Would  feel  like  mine  the  stigmatizing  brand. 
Could  I  forsake  the  cause  of  Freedom's  holy  band. 

IX. 

"  But  shame — 'but  flight — a  recreant's  name  to 

prove. 
To  hide  in  exile  ignominious  fears-— 
Say,  e'en  if  this  I  brook'd, — the  public  love 
Thy  father's  bosom  to  his  home  endears  : 
And  how  could  I  his  few  remaining  years. 
My  Gertrude,  sever  from  so  dear  a  child  ?'* 
So,  day  by  day,  her  boding  heart  he  cheers ; 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING.  37 

At  last  that  heart  to  hope  is  half  beguiled, 
And,  pale  through  tears  suppress'd,  the  mournful 
beauty  smiled. 

X. 

Night  came, — and  in    their  lighted   bower,    full 

late 
The  joy  of  converse  had  endured — when  hark  1 
Abrupt  and  loud  a  summons  shook  their  gate  ; 
And  heedless  of  the  dog's  obstreperous  bark, 
A  form  had  rush'd  amidst  them  from  the  dark, 
And  spread  his  arms, — and  fell  upon  the  floor : 
Of  aged  strength  his  limbs  retain' d  the  mark  ; 
But  desolate  he  look'd,  and  famish'd  poor, 
As  ever  shipwreck' d   wretch  lone  left  on  desert 

shore. 

XI. 

Uprisen,  each  wondering  brow  is  knit  and  arch'd  : 

A  spirit  from  the  dead  they  deem  him  first  : 

To  speak  he  tries;  but  quivering,  pale,  and  parch'd. 

From  lips,  as  by  some  powerless  dream  accursed, 

Emotions  unintelligible  burst ; 

And  long  his  filmed  eye  is  red  and  dim  ; 

At  length  the  pity-proffered  cup  his  thirst 

Had   half  assuaged,  and  nerved   his  shuddering 

limb. 
When   Albert's   hand   he   grasp'd ; — but   Albert 

knew  not  him — 
6 


38  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

XII. 

"  And  hast  thou  then  forgot,"  (he  cried  forlorn, 
And  eyed  the  group  with  half-indignant  air,) 
"  Oh  !  hast  thou,  Christian  chief,  forgot  the  morn 
When  I  with  thee  the  cup  of  peace  did  share  ? 
Then  stately  was  this  head,  and  dark  this  hair. 
That  now  is  white  as  Appalachia's  snow  ; 
But  if  the  weight  of  fifteen  years'  despair. 
And  age  hath  bow'd  me,  and  the  torturing  foe, 
Bring  me   my   boy — and   he   will    his    dehverer 
know  !" 

XIII. 

It  was  not  long,  with  eyes  and  heart  of  flame,' 

Ere  Henry  to  his  loved  Oneida  flew  : 

"  Bless  thee,  my  guide  !" — but  backward,  as  he 

came. 
The  chief  his  old  bewildered  head  withdrew. 
And   grasped  his  arm,  and  look'd  and  looked  him 

through. 
'Twas  strange — nor  could  the  group  a  smile  con- 
trol— 
The  long  and  doubtful  scrutiny  to  view  : — 
At  last  delight  o'er  all  his  features  stole, 
''  It  is — my  own,"    he  cried,  and  clasp'd  him  to 
his  soul. 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING.  39^ 

XIV. 

''  Yes  !    thou  recall'st  my  pride  of  years,  for  then 
The  bowstring  of  my  spirit  was  not  slack, 
When,  spite  of  woods,  and  floods,  and  ambush'd 

men, 
I  bore  thee  hke  the  quiver  on  my  back, 
Fleet  as  the  whirlwind  hurries  on  the  rack  ;       ^ 
Nor  foeman  then,  nor  cougar's  crouch  I  fear'd,* 
For  I  was  strong  as  mountain  cataract  : 
And  dost  thou  not  remember  how  we  cheer'd, 
Upon  the  last   hill-top,    when   white  men's  huts 

appear'd  ? 

XV. 

*'  Then  welcome  be  my  death  song  and  my  death, 
Since  I  have  seen  thee,  and  aguin  embraced," — 
And  longer  had  he  spent  his  toil-worn  breath, 
But  with  affectionate  and  eager  haste, 
Was  every  arm  outstretch' d  around  their  guest, 
To  welcome  and  to  bless  his  aged  head. 
Soon  was  the  hospitable  banquet  placed : 
And  Gertrude's  lovely  hands  a  balsam  shed 
On  wounds  with   fever'd  joy  that  more  profusely 
bled. 

XVI. 

"  But  this  is  not  a  time," — he  started  up. 

And  smote  his  breast  with  wo-denouncing  hand — 

*  Cougar,  the  American  tiger. 


40  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

"  This  is  no  time  to  fill  the  joyous  cup  ; 

The    Mammoth   comes, — the  foe, — the  Monster 

Brandt,*— 
With  all  his  howUng  desolating  band  ; — 
These   eyes    have  seen  their  blade  and  burning 

pine 
Awake  at  once,  and  silence,  half  your  land. 
Red  is  the  cup  they  drink  ;  but  not  with  wine : 
Awake,  and   watch    to-night,  or  see  no  morning 

shine  ! 

xvir. 

"  Scorning  to  wield  the  hatchet  for  his  bribe, 
'Gainst  Brandt  himself  I  went  to  battle  forth  : 
Accursed  Brandt !  he  left  of  all  my  tribe 
Nor  man,  nor  child,  nor  thing  of  living  birth  : 
No !    not   the  dog,   that  watch'd  my  household 

hearth, 
Escaped  that  night  of  blood,  upon  our  plains ! 
All  perished  ! — I  alone  am  left  on  earth  ! 
To  whom  nor  relative  nor  blood  remains, 
No! — not  a  kindred    drop    that  runs  in  human 

veins ! 

XVIII. 

"  But  go  ! — and  rouse  your  warriors ; — for,  if  right 
These  old  bewilder'd  eyes  could  guess,  by  signs 


*  Brandt  was  the  leader  of  those  Mohawks,  and  other  savaues,  who  laid 
waste  this  part  of  Pennsylvania.    Vide  the  note  at  the  end  of  this  poem. 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING.  41 

Of  striped  and  starred  banners,  on  yon  height 
Of  eastern  cedars,  o'r  the  creek  of  pines — 
Some  fort  embattled  by  your  country  shines  :     ' 
Deep  roars  th'  innavigable  gulf  below 
Its  squared  rock,  and  palisaded  hues. 
Go  !  seek  the  light  its  warlike  beacons  show  ;    . 
Whilst  I  in  ambush  wait,   for  vengeance  and  the 
foe !" 

XIX. 

Scarce  had   he  utter'd   when  heaven's  verge  ex- 
treme 

Reverberates  the  bomb's  descending  star, —    . 

And  sounds  that  mingled  laugh, — and   shout, — 
and  scream, — 

To  freeze  the  blood,  in  one  discordant  jar, 

Rung  to  the  peahng  thunderbolts  of  war. 

Whoop  after  whoop  with  rack  the  ear  assail'd  ! 

As  if  unearthly  fiends  had  burst  their  bar ; 

While  rapidly  the  marksman's  shot  prevail'd  : — 

And  aye,  as  if  for    death,   some   lonely   trumpet 
wail'd. 

XX. 

Then  looked  they  to  the  hills,  where  fire  o'erhung 
The  bandit  groups,  in  one  Vesuvian  glare  ; 
Or  swept,  far  seen,  the  tower,  whose  clock  unrung. 
Told  legible  that  midnight  of  despair. 
She  faints, — she  falters  not, — th'  heroic  fair^ — 
6* 


42  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

As  he  the  sword  and  plume  in  haste  array 'd. 
One  short  embrace — he  clasp'd  his  dearest  care — 
But   hark !    what   nearer   war-drum   shakes   the 

glade  ? 
Joy,  joy  !  Columbia's  friends  are  tramping  through 

the  shade  ! 

XXI. 

Then  came  of  every  race  the  mingled  swarm, 
Far  rung   the  groves  and  gleam' d  the  midnight 

grass, 
With  flambeau,  javelin,  and  naked  arm  ; 
As  "warriors  wheeFd  their  culverins  of  brass. 
Sprung  from  the  woods,  a  bold  athletic  mass, 
Whom  virtue  fires,  and  liberty  combines : 
And  first  the  wild  Moravian  yagers  pass — 
His  plumed  host  the  dark  Iberian  joins — 
And  Scotia's  sword  beneath  the  Highland  thistle 

shines, 

XXII. 

And  in,  the  buskin'd  hunters  of  the  deer, 

To  Albert's  home,  with  shout  and  cymbal  throng : 

Roused  by  their  warlike  pomp,  and  mirth,  and 

cheer, 
Old  Outalissa  woke  his  battle-song. 
And,  beating  with  his  war-club  cadence  strong, 
Tells  how  his  deep-stung  indignation  smarts. 
Of  them  that  wrapt  his  house  in  flames,  ere  long 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING.  43 

To  whet  a  dagger  on  their  stony  hearts, 

And  smile  avenged  ere  yet  his  eagle  spirit  parts. 

XXIII. 

Calm,  opposite  the  Christian  father  rose, 
Pale  on  his  venerable  brow  its  rays 
Of  martyr  light  the  conflagration  throws  ; 
One  hand  upon  his  lovely  child  he  lays, 
And  one  th'  uncover'd  crowd  to  silence  sways  ; 
While  though  the  battle  flash  is  faster  driven, — 
Unawed,  with  eye  unstartled  by  the  blaze, 
He  for  his  bleeding  country  prays  to  Heaven — 
Prays  that  the  men  of  blood  themselves  may  be 
forgiven. 

XXIV. 

Short  time  is  now  for  gratulating  speech  : 

And  yet,  beloved  Gertrude,  ere  begun 

Thy  country's  flight,  yon  distant  towers  to  reach, 

Look'd  not  on  thee  the  rudest  partisan 

With  brow  relax' d  to  love  ?     And  murmurs  ran. 

As  round   and   round    their  willing   ranks   they 

drew, 
From  beauty's  sight  to  shield  the  hostile  van. 
Grateful,  on  them  a  placid  look  she  threw. 
Nor   wept,  but  as  she   bade   her  mother's  grave 

adieu  ! 


44  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

XXV. 

Past  was  the  flight,  and  welcome  seem'd  the  tower, 
That  hke  a  giant  standard-bearer  frown'd 
Defiance  on  the  roving  Indian  power. 
Beneath  each  bold  and  promontory  mound 
With  embrasure  emboss'd  and  armour  crown'd. 
An  arrowy  frieze,  and  wedged  ravelin. 
Wove  like  a  diadem  its  tracery  round 
The  lofty  summit  of  that  mountain  green  ; 
Here  stood  secure  the  group,  and  eyed  a  distant 
scene, — 

XXVI. 

A  scene  of  death  !  where  fires  beneath  the  sun. 
And  blended  arms,  and  white  pavilions  glow  ; 
And  for  the  business  of  destruction  done 
Its  requiem  the  war-horn  seem'd  to  blow: 
There,  sad  spectatress  of  her  country's  wo ! 
The  lovely  Gertrude,  safe  from  present  harm. 
Had  laid  her  cheek,  and  clasp'd  her  hands  of 

snow 
On  Waldegrave's  shoulder,  half  within  his  arm 
Enclosed,  that  felt  her  heart,  and  hush'd  its  wild 

alarm  ! 

xxvii. 
But  short  that  contemplation — sad  and  short 
The  pause  to  bid  each  much  loved  scene  adieu  ! 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING.  45 

Beneath  the  very  shadow  of  the  fort, 

Where  friendly  swords  were  drawn,  and  banners 

flew. 
Ah  !  who  could  deem  that  foot  of  Indian  crew 
Was  near  ? — yet  there,  with  lust  of   murderous 

deeds, 
Gleam'd  hke  a  basilisk,  from  woods  in  view. 
The  ambush'd  foeman's  eye — his  volley  speeds. 
And  Albert — Albert — falls  !  the  dear  old  father , 

bleeds ! 

XXVIII. 

And  tranced  in  giddy  horfor  Gertrude  swoon'd  ; 
Yet,  while  she  clasps  him  lifeless  to  her  zone. 
Say,  burst  they,  borrow'd  from  her  father's  wound, 
These  drops  ? — Oh,  God  !    the  life-blood   is  her 

own  ! 
And  falt'ring,  on  her  Waldegrave's  bosom  thrown, 
"  Weep    not,  O   love  !" — she  cries,  "  to  see  me 

bleed — 
Thee,  Gertrude's  sad  survivor,  thee  alone 
Heaven's  peace  commiserate  ;  for  scarce  I  heed 
These  wounds  ; — yet   thee   to  leave  is  death,  is 
death  indeed  ! 

XXIX. 

"  Clasp  me  a  little  longer  on  the  brink 
Of  fate  !  while  I  can  feel  thy  dear  caress : 


46  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

And  when  this  heart   hath  ceased  to  beat — oh 

think, 
And  let  it  mitigate  thy  wo's  excess, 
That  thou  hast  been  to  me  all  tenderness, 
And  friend  to  more  than  human  friendship  just. 
Oh  !  by  that  retrospect  of  happiness, 
And  by  the  hopes  of  an  immortal  trust, 
God  shall  assuage  thy  pangs  when  I  am  laid  in 

dust ! 

XXX. 

"  Go,  Henry,  go  not  back,  when  I  depart ; 

The  scene  thy  bursting  tears  too  deep  will  move, 

Where  my  dear  father  took  thee  to  his  heart. 

And  Gertrude  thought  it  ecstasy  to  rove 

With  thee,  as  with  an  angel,  through  the  grove 

Of  peace,  imagining  her  lot  was  cast 

In  heaven  ;  for  ours  was  not  like  earthly  love. 

And  must  this  parting  be  our  very  last  ? 

No  !  I  shall  love  thee  still,  when  death  itself  is  past. 

XXXI. 

"  Half  could  I  bear,  methinks,  to  leave  this  earth, 
And  thee,  more  loved  than  aught  beneath  the  sun, 
If  I  had  lived  to  smile  but  on  the  birth 
Of   one  dear  pledge ; — ^but  shall   there  then  be 

none. 
In  future  times — no  gentle  litde  one, 


GERTRUDE    OF     WYOMING.  47 

To  clasp  thy  neck,  and  look,  resembling  me  ? 
Yet  seems  it,  e'en  while  Hfe's  last  pulses  run, 
A  sweetness  in  the  cup  of  death  to  be, 
Lord  of  my  bosom's  love  !  to  die  beholding  thee  !" 

XXXII. 

Hush'd  were  his   Gertrude's   lips !    but  still  their 

bland 
And  beautiful  expression  seem'd  to  melt 
With  love  that  could  not  die  !  and  still  his  hand 
She  presses  to  the  heart  no  more  that  felt. 
Ah,  heart !  where  once  each  fond  affection  dwelt, 
And  features  yet  that  spoke  a  soul  more  fair. 
Mute,  gazing,  agonizing,  as  he  knelt, — 
Of  them  that  stood  encircling  his  despair, 
He  heard  some  friendly  words ; — but  knew  not 

what  they  were. 

XXXIII. 

For  now,  to  mourn  their  judge  and  child,  arrives 
A  faithful  band.     With  solemn  rites  between, 
'Twas  sung,  how  they  were  lovely  in  their  lives. 
And  in  their  deaths  had  not  divided  been. 
Touch'd  by  the  music,  and  the  melting  scene. 
Was  scarce  one  tearless  eye  amidst  the  crowd : — 
Stern  warriors,  resting  on  their  swords,  were  seen 
To  veil   their  eyes,  as   pass'd  each    much-loved 

shroud — 
While  woman's  softer  soul  in  wo  dissolved  aloud. 


48  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

XXXIV. 

Then  mournfully  the  parting  bugle  bid 

Its  farewell,  o'er  the  grave  of  worth  and  truth  ; 

Prone  to  the  dust,  afflicted  Waldegrave  hid 

pis  face  on  earth  ; — him  watch'd,  in  gloomy  ruth, 

His   woodland   guide :    but   words   had  none  to 

soothe 
The  grief  that  knew  not  consolation's  name : 
Casting  his  Indian  mantle  o'er  the  youth. 
He  watch'd  beneath  its  folds,  each  burst  that  came 
,  Convulsive,  ague-like,  across  his  shuddering  frame ! 

XXXV. 

"  And  I  could  weep  ;" — th'  Oneida  chief 

His  descant  wildly  thus  begun  : 

"  But  that  I  may  not  stain  with  grief 

The  death-song  of  my  father's  son. 

Or  bow  this  head  in  wo : 

For  by  my  wrongs,  and  by  my  wrath  ! 

To-morrow  Areouski's  breath, 

(That  fires  yon  heaven  with  storms  of  death,) 

Shall  light  us  to  the  foe ; 

And  we  shall  share,  my  Christian  boy  ! 

The  foeman's  blood,  the  avenger's  joy  I 

XXXVI. 

'<  But  thee,  my  flower,  whose  breath  was  given 
By  milder  genii  o'er  the  deep, 


GRETRUDE    OF    WYOMING.  49 

The  spirits  of  the  white  man's  heaven 
Forbid  not  thee  to  weep  : — 
Nor  will  the  Christian  host, 
Nor  will  thy  father's  spirit  grieve, 
To  see  thee  on  the  battle's  eve, 
Lamenting,  take  a  mournful  leave 
Of  her  who  loved  thee  most : 
She  was  the  rainbow  to  thy  sight ! 
Thy  sun — thy  heaven — of  lost  delight ! 

xxxvii. 

''  To-morrow  let  us  do  or  die  ! 

But  when  the  bolt  of  death  is  hurl'd. 

Ah  !  whither  then  with  thee  to  fly. 

Shall  Outalissi  roam  the  world  ? 

Seek  we  thy  once-loved  home  ? 

The  hand  is  gone  that  cropt  its  flowers : 

Unheard  their  clock  repeats  its  hours  ! 

Cold  is  the  hearth  within  their  bowers  ! 

And  should  we  hither  roam, 

Its  echoes,  and  its  empty  tread. 

Would  sound  like  voices  from  the  dead  ! 

XXXVIII. 

*'  Or  shall  we  cross  yon  mountains  blue. 
Whose  streams  my  kindred  nation  quaflfd, 
And  by  my  side,  in  battle  true, 
A  thousand  warriors  drew  the  shaft  ? 

7 


50  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

Ah  !  there  in  desolation  cold, 

The  desert  serpent  dwells  alone, 

Where  grass  o'ergrows  each  mouldering  bone. 

And  stones  themselves  to  ruin  grown. 

Like  me,  are  death-like  old. 

Then  seek  we  not  their  camp, — for  there 

The  silence  dwells  of  my  despair  ! 

XXXIX. 

'^  But  hark,  the  trump  ! — to-morrow  thou 
In  glory's  fires  shalt  dry  thy  tears : 
E'en  from  the  land  of  shadows  now 
My  father's  awful  ghost  appears, 
Amidst  the  clouds  that  round  us  roll ! 
He  bids  my  soul  for  battle  thirst — 
He  bids  me  dry  the  last — the  first — 
The  only  tears  that  ever  burst 
From  Outalissi's  soul ; 
Because  I  may  not  stain  with  grief 
The  death-song  of  an  Indian  chief!'* 


WYOMING, 


ITS    HISTORY 


MUCH    YET    REMAINS    UNSUNG.' 


BY  WILLIAM  L.  STONE. 


NEW-YORK  : 

MARK     H.     NEWMAN. 

1844. 


WYOMING. 


WYOMING 


CHAPTER  I. 

Preliminary  remarks— Travelling— its  facilities— "Route  to  the  Valley  of 
Wyoming  from  New-York. — Muskonetcong  Mountain, — Delaware  Wa- 
ter-Gap,—Stroudsburg, —  Kakatchlanamin  Hills  or  Blue  Mountains, — 
the  Wind-Gap,— Pokono  Mountains. 

The  passion  for  travelling,  so  often  and  so  habit- 
ually spoken  of  as  a  characteristic  of  the  English 
people,  seems  to  have  been  transmitted,  with  many 
other  of  their  national  peculiarities,  to  their  Ameri- 
can descendants  ;  stimulated,  moreover,  to  increas- 
ed activity,  by  the  vast  extent,  the  enlarged  commu- 
nity of  interests  and  feehngs,  and  the  unequalled  fa- 
cilities for  conveyance,  which  are  united  in  our 
country.  The  magnificent  steamboats  and  mul- 
titudinous rail-roads  which  this  tendency  of  the 
American  people,  and  the  necessities  of  their  un- 
bounded commercial  enterprise,  have  called  into 
existence,  afford  sufficient  evidence,  in  their  num- 
ber and  extent,  of  the  great  amount  of  travel  at 
all  times  in  progress ;  but  to  obtain  a  full  concep- 
tion of  the  locomotive  propensity  by  which  the 


56  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

citizens  are  animated,  it  is  necessary  to  be  a  pas- 
senger, during  either  of  the  summer  months,  on 
board  one  or  another  of  the  gigantic  steamboats 
that  ply  along  the  principal  throughfares  of  in- 
land navigation — such,  for  instance,  as  the  Hud- 
son, the  Delaware,  or  the  Mississippi.  If  the  boat 
of  which  the  adventurous  observer,  entrusts  his 
person  should  happen  to  be  one  of  a  line  engag- 
ing at  the  moment  in  competition  with  a  rival, 
and  therefore  presenting  the  temptation  of  a  charge 
reduced  almost  to  nothing,  his  understanding  in 
the  eagerness  for  travel  which  animates  all  classes 
sexes,  and  occupations,  will  be  all  the  more  enlarg- 
ed and  enlightened. 

A  natural  consequence  of  this  universal  appetite 
is  the  zeal  with  which  new  scenes  and  localities 
are  sought  out,  as  the  objects  of  touring  indus- 
try— a  zeal  displayed  in  astonishing  activity  by 
the  rich  and  novelty-loving  travellers  of  England, 
and  only  in  a  less  degree  by  their  fellow-explorers 
of  America.  Of  late  years  we  have  seen  the  former 
pushing  their  researches  into  the  remotest  quar- 
ters of  the  globe — the  trackless  deserts  of  Africa, 
the  wild  steppes  and  mountains  of  Central  Asia, 
the  sterile  plains  of  Russia,  the  dark  forests  of 
Norway,  the  savage  prairies  of  our  Western  Con- 
tinent, and  the  far  distant  isles  of  the  1  acific ;  and 
the  latter,  in  the  same  spirit  though  with  means 
more  limited  and  time  less  entirely  at  their  com- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  57 

mand,  pushing  their  summer  expeditions  to  the 
British  Provinces  and  the  great  lakes  of  the  North- 
west— not  to  mention  the  frequency  with  which 
Americans  are  seen  or  heard  of  among  the  splen- 
did capitals  of  Europe,  or  the  relics  of  the  won- 
derful past  in  Africa  and  Asia. 

Touching  these  last,  no  man  of  intelligence  or  of 
enlarged  understanding  will  think  for  a  moment 
of  censuring  the  spirit  in  which  journies  to  behold 
them  are  undertaken,  probably,  in  the  great  ma- 
jority of  instances  ;  the  spirit,  doubtless,  of  liberal 
curiosity  and  a  desire  for  knowledge.  Neverthe- 
less, it  is  worthy  of  remark  that,  familiar  as  the 
principal  resorts  of  home  tourists  may  be  to  thou- 
sands upon  thousands  of  Americans — perfectly 
at  home  as  they  may  find  themselves  in  Washing- 
ton, New- York,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  Quebec  and 
Montreal,  and  generally  well  informed  as  to  the 
main  features  of  the  country  in  its  different  re- 
gions—  there  are  yet  very  many  places  worthy 
to  be  visited,  either  on  account  of  natural  attrac- 
tions, or  events  of  which  they  have  been  the 
scene,  or  perhaps  of  both  these  causes  in  combi- 
nation ;  places  rarely  included  within  the  range 
of  annual  excursions,  yet  rich  in  scenery  or  in  re- 
collections, worthy  to  be  noted  by  the  curious  in- 
quirer, and  to  be  enjoyed  by  him  who  seeks  in 
travel  refreshment  for  his  mind  and  gratification 
for  his  refined  and  cultivated  tastes. 


58  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

Such  is  the  valley  of  Wyoming — exquisitely 
beautiful  in  scenery,  and  invested  by  the  history 
of  the  past  and  the  genius  of  poesy  with  attrac- 
tions not  less  strong  or  enduring.  Such  it  was 
found  to  be,  greatly  to  his  own  enjoyment,  by  the 
author  of  this  unpretending  volume,  in  an  excur- 
sion performed  during  the  summer  of  1S39  ;  and  in 
the  hope  of  inducing  others  to  procure  for  them- 
selves pleasures  like  those  which  he  enjoyed,  he 
has  ventured  to  draw  up  from  his  notes  a  brief  de- 
scription of  the  scenes  and  objects  by  which  he 
was  deeply  interested,  and  which,  in  his  humble 
judgment,  fairly  entitle  the  lovely  and  far-famed 
Valley  of  Wyoming  to  a  place  in  the  "  itineraries  " 
of  the  United  States,  not  less  distinguished  than 
many  other  localities  have  long  possessed,  whose 
claims,  though  more  generally  recognized,  are  nei- 
ther more  valid  nor  more  numerous. 

Another  consideration  has  had  much  to  do  with 
the  production  of  this  volume — one  which  the 
author  has  some  diffidence  in  stating,  as  its  avowal 
may  subject  him,  though  erroneously,  to  the 
charge  of  literary  presumption.  The  reader  has 
seen  in  the  preceding  pages,  that  the  name  of 
Wyoming  has  been  illustrated  and  adorned  by 
the  genius  of  a  great  poet,  and  in  his  lay  of  per- 
fect music  embalmed  for  everlasting  fame.  In  ex- 
tent, wherever  the  English  language  is  read  or 
spoken — in  time,  so  long  as  that  language  shall 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  59 

exist,  either  as  living  or  dead — the  Wyoming  of 
Campbell  is  and  will  be  a  creation  lovely  to  the 
heart  and  imagination  of  mankind.  But  the  poet 
has  given  to  the  world  a  creation  that  is  only  im- 
aginary. His  Wyoming  is  not  the  Wyoming  of 
prosaic  reality,  nor  is  the  tale  to  which  he  has 
married  it  in  accordance  with  the  facts  of  history. 
Of  course  no  reproach  is  meant  for  him  in  making 
this  declaration.  His  choice  of  materials  and  the 
use  he  made  of  them  were  governed  by  the  pur- 
poses and  necessities  of  his  own  art— not  by  those 
of  the  historian ;  and  as  the  requirements  of  his 
own  art  would  have  been  perfectly  well  satisfied 
by  a  total  invention  of  incidents,  so  there  was  no 
obligation  upon  him  to  use  any  thing  more  than 
such  a  partial  foundation  of  reality  as  would  be 
sufficient  for  the  ends  he  had  in  view. 

But  though  no  exception  be  taken  to  the  poet 
for  the  fanciful  colouring  he  has  given  to  events 
so  full  of  interest,  it  is  perhaps  not  unwarrantable 
to  presume  that  thousands  of  his  admiring  readers 
would  desire  to  know  the  real  features  of  that  pic- 
ture which,  with  his  embellishments,  appears  so 
lovely.  Such  desire  would  almost  unavoidably 
spring  up  from  the  natural  propensity  of  men  to 
seek  after  truth ;  and  it  would  be  stimulated, 
doubtless,  by  curiosity  to  compare  the  real  with 
the  imagined. 

In  this  belief  the  author  has  found  encourage- 


60  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

ment  to  prepare  his  little  volume  for  the  public  ; 
while  motive  was  furnished  by  the  injustice  done, 
however  innocently,  in  the  poem,  to  a  personage 
of  no  mean  celebrity,  in  whose  character  and  life 
the  author  has  long  felt  a  deep  interest.  It  will 
be  understood,  probably,  that  reference  is  made  to 
the  famous  Mohawk  chieftain  Brant — designated 
in  the  poem,  with  equal  wrong  to  his  morals  and 
his  patronymic,  "  the  monster  Brandt."  Coexten- 
sive with  the  knowledge  of  the  poem  is  the  wrong 
done  to  his  memory  by  ascribing  to  him  cruelties 
in  which  he  had  no  share,  and  at  the  perpetration 
of  which  he  was  not  even  present ;  and  although 
to  the  later  editions  of  his  poem  Campbell  has  ap- 
pended a  note,  acknowledging  his  error  in  this  res- 
pect, the  Thayendanegea  of  history  is  still  "  the 
monster  Brandt "  to  thousands  who  derive  all  their 
knowledge  of  him  from  the  deathless  "  Gertrude 
of  Wyoming." 

A  desire  to  contribute  something  toward  the 
rescue  of  the  Indian  warrior's  fame,  was  prominent 
among  the  considerations  that  led  to  the  produc- 
tion of  the  present  work  ;  while,  independently  of 
the  interest  with  which  the  valley  of  Wyoming  has 
been  invested  by  Campbell,  it  is  believed  that  the 
actual  history  of  that  beautiful  region,  limited 
though  it  be  in  its  geographical  dimensions,  is  suf- 
ficiently rich  in  incident  to  warrant  at  least  a  pass- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  61 

ing  notice  from  the  music  of  history.  In  the  pre- 
paration of  these  pages,  for  the  sake  of  convenience, 
the  popular  style  of  the  tourist  has  occasionally 
been  adopted. 

Wyoming  is  a  section  of  the  valley  of  the  Sus- 
quehanna river,  situated  due  west  of  the  city  of 
New-York,  distant,  in  a  direct  line,  about  one 
hundred  miles.  The  usual  route  is  across  New- 
Jersey  to  Easton,  and  the  Delaware  river,  and 
thence  by  the  Wilkesbarre  turnpike,  through  the 
*'  AVind-Gap  "  of  the  Blue  Mountains,  and  across 
the  wild  and  far-famed  P  okono.  A  less  direct  but 
more  romantic  route  was  chosen  by  the  writer,  for 
the  purpose  of  visiting  the  stupendous  scenery  of 
the  Delaware  "  Water-Gap." 

From  New-York  to  Morristown  by  rail-road, 
passing  through  Newark,  Orange,  Millville  and 
Chatham.  The  country  is  agreeably  diversified 
with  highland  and  plain — orchards  and  cultiva- 
ted fields — verdant  groves  crowning  the  hills,  or 
stretching  down  their  sides  to  the  Passaic  river 
and  its  tributaries  ;  their  superb  vegetation  run- 
ning down  the  dales,  where  the  rich  elms  and  wil- 
lows bend  their  branches  over  the  streams  and 
fountains,  affording  landscape-glimpses  of  surpas- 
sing beauty.  On  the  side  of  one  of  these  hills,  of 
moderate  elevation,  sheltered  from  the  northwest, 
and  looking  into  the  valley  of  the  sinuous  Pas- 
saic, stands  the  modest  country  retreat  of  the  Hon. 
8 


62  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

James  Kent,  formerly  Chief  Justice,  and  after- 
ward Chancellor  of  the  State  of  New-York.  The 
country  thence  to  the  base  of  Schooley's  Mountain 
— anciently  called  the  Muskonetcong — rapidly  as- 
sumes a  rougher  aspect.  The  hills  often  aspire  to  a 
more  respectable  size,  and  with  the  increasing  al- 
titude the  farms  appear  less  productive.  Still,  there 
are  meadows  and  pastures  "  full  of  fresh  verdure," 
while  there  is  beauty  to  be  descried  in  many  a 
"  winding  vale  "  below.  A  brisk  stream  laves  the 
eastern  base  of  the  Muskonetcong,  flowing  to  the 
south,  and  affording  abundant  water-power  for 
mills  and  manufactories.  The  ascent  of  the  moun- 
tain is  by  a  winding  road  sufficiently  steep  to  re- 
mind one  of  Beattie's  pathetic  exclamation  : — 

"  How  hard  it  is  to  climb  !" 

and  affording  a  broad  and  beautifully  varigated 
landscape,  as  the  traveller  occasionally  stops  to 
breathe  and  look  behind.  The  height  of  the  moun- 
tain is  probably  eight  hundred  or  a  thousand  feet 
— not  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  but  from  the 
steppe  on  which  it  stands*  At  the  point  where  it 
is  crossed  by  the  turnpike,  the  top  of  the  mountain 
presents  the  surface  of  a  plain,  of  perhaps  a  mile 
and  a  half  in  breadth.  It  is  sufficiently  rocky  to 
require  strength  and  patience  in  its  cultivation, 
and  in  its  primitive  condition  its  aspect  must  have 
been  most  forbidding.     Nevertheless  the  energies 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  63 

of  man  have  triumphed  over  its  original  sterility, 
and  worse  looking  farms  may  often  be  seen  in  a 
less  rugged  country. 

This  elevated  spot  has  enjoyed  some  celebrity 
for  more  than  half  a  century,  as  a  watering-place, 
from  the  circumstance  that  a  mineral  spring  flows 
from  its  rocks,  the  waters  of  which  are  esteemed 
excellent  for  bathing.  There  are  two  public 
houses,  of  ancient  and  respectable  aspect,  for  the 
accommodation  of  boarders — those  who  desire  to 
apply  the  waters  of  the  fountain,  and  those  who 
visit  this  place  for  the  benefit  of  the  elastic  and 
invigorating  mountain  air.  The  first  of  the  two 
large  houses  approached  from  the  east,  is  Belmont 
Hall,  generally  patronised  by  the  New-Yorkers. 
The  house  is  embosomed  in  a  noble  grove  of  oaks, 
affording  a  broad  and  grateful  shade.  The  other 
hotel  is  called  the  Heath  House.  It  stands  upon 
a  delightful  site,  and  also,  like  its  rival,  wears  an 
aspect  of  patrician  comfort.  This  house  is  the  fa- 
vorite resort  of  the  Philadelphians.  From  both, 
and  indeed  from  the  whole  mountain  table,  the 
prospect,  on  every  hand,  but  especially  toward  the 
west,  affords  a  broad  and  magnificent  picture — 
extending  over  many  a  deep  green  valley  and 
laughing  hill,  even  to  the  Blue  Mountains  beyond 
the  Delaware. 

The  mineral  spring  gushes  from  a  rock — or  rath- 
er oozes,  for  it  has  not  power  to  gush — in  a  wild 


64  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

glen  three-quarters  of  a  mile  below,  toward  the 
west.  It  is  a  lonely,  romantic  place,  and  a  small 
bathing-house  shelters  the  spring.  The  waters  are 
slightly  tinctured  with  iron,  and  are  sufficiently 
insipid  to  the  taste  of  those  who  have  just  been 
quaffing  from  the  sparkling  fountains  of  Saratoga. 

The  descent  is  along  the  ravine  already  men- 
tioned, which  is  deep  and  shadowy,  and  at  times, 
as  wild  as  nature  can  make  it.  Emerging  from 
the  glen,  the  charming  valley  of  theMuskonetcong 
river  welcomes  the  traveller  with  a  scene  of  pla- 
cid beauty.  Here,  crossing  the  stream,  the  route 
that  had  been  chosen  diverges  toward  the  north, 
through  the  pleasant  village  of  Hackettstown. 
This  section  of  New-Jersey  is  not  only  beautiful 
to  the  eye,  but  evidently  fertile.  As  the  tourist 
leaves  the  valley,  climbing  another  range  of  hills, 
overlooking  other  magnificent  pictures,  and  again 
descending  to  the  bed  of  another  clear  mountain 
stream,  the  varying  prospects,  the  free  air  and  the 
bright  sun,  with  here  and  there  a  flitting  mass  of 
cloud  darkening  for  a  moment  a  wood-girt  hill, 
afford  a  succession  of  objects  for  delighted  con- 
templation. 

In  ascending  f  ;om  one  of  these  valleys,  between 
Hackettstown  and  Vienna,  the  road  crosses  the 
Morris  Canal,  leading  from  Easton  to  Jersey  City, 
opposite  to  New-York.  It  is  an  important  work 
for  New- York,  opening,  as  it  doe>,  a  direct  pas- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 


se 


sage  by  water  to  the  coal  mines  of  the  Lehigh  in 
Pennsylvania. 

At  the  distance  of  some  eight  or  ten  miles  from 
the  valley  of  the  Muskonetcong,  after  crossing  the 
Pequest  river,  and  ascending  a  hill  which  aspires 
to  the  character  of  a  mountain,  a  landscape  opens 
to  the  north,  of  singular  grandeur  and  magnifi- 
cence. The  Delaware  Water-Gap  must  be  more 
than  twenty  miles  distant,  yet  the  eye,  overlook- 
ing many  a  beautiful  hill  and  romantic  valley  in 
the  foreground,  at  once  catches  the  bold  outhne 
of  the  cleft  mountains  in  the  distance,  strongly 
relieved  against  the  hoary  crests  of  the  mountains 
yet  more  remote.  On  the  left,  from  the  same  el- 
evation, as  the  eye  stretches  over  the  hills  beyond 
the  Delaware,  the  noble  range  of  the  Blue  Moun- 
tains rises  in  glorious  prospect. 

At  the  next  resting  place,  which  is  the  town  of 
Hope,  the  notice  of  the  stranger  is  attracted  by  the 
peculiar  construction  of  the  inn,  an  ancient  stone 
edifice,  unusually  large  for  such  a  purpose,  and 
having  a  wide  hall  across  either  end,  with  a  flight 
of  steps  ascending  to  the  second  story  in  each. 
It  was  once  a  Moravian  Church — the  United 
Brethren  having  originally  planted  that  town,  as 
a  missionary  post — and  hence  its  name.  The 
feet  of  Ziesberger  and  Zinzendorf,  of  Buettner 
and  Ranch,  have  trodden  that  soil,  and  perhaps 
this  band  of  self-denying  apostles  themselves  have 
8* 


66  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

partaken  of  the  sacramental  cup  within  the  very 
walls    now    affording  shelter  and  refreshment  to 
any  that  may  choose  to  call.     This,  too,  was  within 
the  missionary  region  traversed  by  holy   Brainerd, 
whose  principal  station,  while  engaged  as  a  mis- 
sionary among  the  Indians,  was  at  the  "  Forks  of 
the  Delaware,"  as  the  junction*  of  the  Delaware 
and  Lehigh  was  called.*      And  where,  now,   are 
the  dusky  congregations  of  the  Aborigines  to  whom 
they  preached  the  everlasting  Gospel  ?  Echo  an- 
swers— ^'  fVhere  ?"  The  most  war-like  and  noble 
of  the  New-Jersey  Indians,  chiefly  Delawares,  but 
some  of  whom  were  of  the  /  Five  Nations,  were 
planted  in  this  section   of  New-Jersey  when  the 
white  men  came.     Nor  was   the  most  sagacious 
among  them  without  gloomy  forebodings  of  what 
was  to  be  their  fate,  after  the  pale   faces  should 
obtain  a  permanent  foothold.     A   sachem  of  one 
of  these  Jersey  clans,  being  observed  to  look  with 
solemn  attention  upon  the  great  comet  which  ap- 

*"  Whom  the  gods  love  die  young,"  says  the  heathen  proverb.  It  waa 
BO  with  David  Brainerd,  a  wonderful  man,  who  finished  bis  work  at  the 
early  age  of  thirty  and  went  to  his  rest.  His  frame  was  slender,  and  hav- 
ing worn  out  his  feeble  constitution  by  excessive  labor,  he  returned  to 
Northampton,— to  the  family  of  the  illustrious  Edwards,  his  friend  and 
patron— for  the  purpose,  as  he  hoped,  of  recruiting  his  health,— but  in  re- 
ality to  die.  "  I  have  often  walked  in  the  little  foot-path  which  goes  around 
his  quiet  resting-place,  and  even  those  who  have  dropped  a  tear  over  Mar- 
tyn'«  grave  in  Persia,  also  drop  a  tear  here.  And  here  at  the  "  Forkes  »' 
fttill  wave  the  tall  sycamore  trees  under  which  that  self-denying  man 
taught  the  tawny  sons  of  the  forest  as  they  came  around  him  as  a  father, 
and  loved  him  aa  they  loved  their  own  souls." — Rev.  John  Tudd,  1839. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  67 

peared  in  October,  1680,  was  asked  what  he 
thought  was  the  meaning  of  that  prodigious  and 
wonderful  object.  He  answered  gravely — "  It 
signifies  that  we  Indians  shall  melt  away,  like  the 
snow  in  springs  and  this  country  be  inhabited  by 
another  peopled'  The  forest  king  was  a  prophet 
as  well  as  a  hunter. 

Five  miles  from  Hope  is  Autun's  ferry,  over 
which  travellers  are  conveyed  by  a  flat  boat ;  and 
from  hence  it  is  yet  seven  miles  to  the  Water-Gap, 
over  a  rugged  road,  but  through  scenery  beauti- 
fully wild  and  romantic.  The  course  of  the  road 
is  generally  upon  the  elevated  margin  of  the  river, 
bright  glimpses  of  which  often  appear  through  the 
trees,  like  tiny  lakes  of  liquid  silver,  below.  At 
length  the  traveller  enters  the  gorge  of  the  moun- 
tains— the  road  winding  along  their  base,  beneath 
their  frowning  peaks — narrow,  and  often  upon  the 
very  verge  of  a  gulf,  rendered  more  appalling  by 
the  dimness  of  the  light,  and  his  ignorance  of  its 
depth. 

Geologists  suppose  the  deep,  winding  chasm 
through  this  stupendous  range  of  mountains,  to 
have  been  wrought  by  some  mighty  convulsion 
of  nature,  by  which  the  rocks  were  cloven,  and  a 
passage  formed  for  the  river,  the  waters  of  which 
must  have  previously  flowed  through  some  other 
channel.  The  distance  from  the  southern  en- 
trance of  the  pass  to  the  hotel,  which  stands  upon 


6S  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

a  subdued  jutting  promontory,  toward  its  northern 
termination,  is  only  two  miles,  but  at  least  an  hour 
is  generally  employed  in  overcoming  it,  and  at  night 
the  time  seems  two.  The  tourist,  however,  can- 
not enjoy  to  the  full  the  grandeur  of  the  scene, 
and  the  feelings  of  elevated  though  chastened  de- 
light incident  to  its  contemplation,  without  study- 
ing it  by  night,  as  well  as  by  day.  Sensations  of 
solemn  grandeur  are  awakened  by  threading  a 
chasm  profound  and  sohtary  hke  this,  in  the  gloom 
of  night,  studying  the  sharp  outlines  of  the  moun- 
tains against  the  sky,  and  occasionally  catching  a 
ghmpse  of  a  precipice  beetling  over  the  gulf,  by 
the  aid  of  a  casual  mass  of  light  thrown  against  it 
by  the  fitful  moon,  and  rendering  the  shadows  be- 
low denser  and  more  palpable. 

Less  thrilling,  though  not  less  sublime,  and 
more  beautiful,  is  the  view  of  this  wild  Alpine 
landscape  in  the  early  morning  of  a  bright  day. 
The  masses  of  naked  rocks,  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  river  toward  the  southern  gorge,  rising  to  an 
elevation  of  eight  hundred  or  a  thousand  feet,  in 
some  places  as  upright  and  smooth  as  though  a 
creation  of  art,  and  at  others  spiked,  ragged  and 
frowning,  are  comparatively  undistinguishable 
while  obscured  by  the  raven  wing  of  night.  But 
their  dusky  sublimity  is  greatly  enhanced  when 
revealed  to  the  eye  in  their  unclouded  majesty  and 
grandeur  by  the  ligiit  of  day.     In  the  gray  of  tlie 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  69 

morning,  before  yet  the  sun  has  gilded  their  tops, 
standing  upon  the  jutting  point  already  mention- 
ed as  the  site  of  the  hotel,  almost  the  entire  sec- 
tion comprising  this  remarkable  passage  is  distinct- 
ly in  view, — gloomy  from  the  yet  unretreating 
shade, — and  disclosing  the  abrupt  sinuosities  of 
the  river,  together  with  all  the  irregularities  of  rock 
and  mountain  incident  to  such  a  formation  ; — the 
mountains,  for  the  most  part,  clothed  with  wood 
to  their  summits,  and  the  whole  scene  as  wild  and 
fresh  as  though  just  from  the  hand  of  nature. 
Low  in  the  gulf,  at  the  base  of  the  mountains,  a 
cloud  of  milk-white  vapor  sleeps  upon  the  bosom 
of  the  river.  In  the  course  of  half  an  hour,  with 
a  change  of  temperature  in  the  superincumbent 
atmosphere,  the  vapor  begins  to  ascend,  and  a 
gentle  current  of  air  wafts  it,  as  by  the  sweet  soft 
breathing  of  morn  herself,  without  breaking  the 
cloud,  to  the  western  side  of  the  river.  There, 
for  a  while,  it  hangs  in  angel  whiteness,  like  a  zone 
of  silver  belting  the  mountain.  Below,  along  the 
whole  course  of  the  gulf,  the  sides  of  the  mountains 
are  yet  clad  in  solemn  and  shadowy  drapery,  while 
in  bright  and  glorious  contrast,  the  sun  having  at 
length  begun  climbing  the  sky  in  good  earnest, 
their  proud  crests  are  now  glittering  with  golden 
radiance. 

By  climbing  a  mountain  behind  the  hotel  to  the 
northwest,  and  looking  into  the  chasm  toward  the 


70  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

south,  a  fine  view  of  the  zig-zag  course  of  the 
river  is  afforded,  down  to  the  second  turn,  where 
its  deep  narrow  volume  is  apparently  brought  to 
an  end  by  the  intervention  of  the  buttress  of  rock 
on  the  Jersey  shore,  already  adverted  to.  But  the 
best  position  for  surveying  the  whole  pass,  and 
enjoying  its  sublimity  to  entire  satisfaction,  is 
from  a  small  boat  paddled  along  leisurely  upon  the 
river  through  the  gulf.  The  maps  furnish  no  just 
idea  of  the  channel  of  the  river  through  the  gap — 
the  actual  course  resembling  the  sharp  curvatures 
of  an  angry  serpent  before  he  is  coiled,  or.  rather, 
perhaps,  this  section  of  the  river  would  be  best 
delineated  by  a  line  like  a  letter  S.  The  gener- 
al height  of  the  mountain  barriers  is  about  sixteen 
hundred  feet.  They  are  all  very  precipitous  ;  and 
while  sailing  along  their  bases  in  a  skiff,  their  dread- 
ful summits,  some  of  them,  seem  actually  to  hang 
beetling  over  the  head.  This  is  especially  the  case 
with  the  Jersey  mountains — the  surfaces  of  which, 
next  the  river,  as  already  stated,  are  of  bare  rock, 
lying  in  regular  blocks,  in  long  ranges,  as  even  as 
though  hewn,  and  laid  in  stratifications,  like  stu- 
pendous masonry — "  the  masonry  of  God  !" 

Not  far  from  the  hotel,  among  the  mountains 
above,  is  a  small  lake,  which  has  been  dammed 
at  the  foot,  and  converted  into  a  trout-pond.  By 
opening  a  sluice-gate,  an  artificial  cataract  can  at 
any  time  be  formed  by  the  waters  of  the  lake, 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  71 

which  come  rushing  down  a  precipitous  rock  two 
or  three  hundred  feet  into  the  embrace  of  the 
river,  as  though  leaping  for  joy  at  their  hberation. 
The  scene  of  the  Water-Gap,  as  a  whole,  and  as 
a  point  of  attraction  for  the  lovers  of  nature  in  her 
wildness  and  grandeur,  by  far  transcends  the  high- 
lands of  Hudson's  river,  or  even  the  yet  more  ad- 
mired region  of  the  Horicon.* 

Unless  the  tourist  descends  by  the  course  of  the 
river,  twenty  miles,  to  Easton,  the  route  from  the 
Water-Gap  to  Wyoming  is  by  Stroudsburg,  flank- 
ing the  Kittaninny  f  Hills,  being  the  northern  spur 
of  the  Blue  Mountains ;  thence  southwest,  travel- 
ing along  their  western  side  to  intersect  the  Easton 
and  Wilkesbarre  turnpike,  at  a  notch  through  that 
section  of  these  mountains,  called  the  Wind-Gap. 
The  course  is  north,  two  and  a  half  miles  along 
the  Delaware,  to  the  estuary  of  a  considerable  and 
rapid  stream,  called  Broadhead's  Greek,  by  the 
moderns,  from  the  name  of  one  of  the  first  white 
settlers  of  the  country.  The  Indian  name,  far  more 
euphonical,  is  Analomink.  Thence  west  to 
Stroudsburg.  This  is  a  pleasantly  situated  village, 
the  planting  of  which  was  commenced  by  a  gen- 
tleman named  Stroud,  before  the  war  of  the  Amer- 
ican revolution.      It    stands  upon  a  sweet  plain, 

*  A  doubtful  Indian  name  of  Lake  George. 

t  Kittaninny  is  the  modern  orthography.  The  ancient  was  "  the  Kakateb- 
lanamin  Hills."  But  the  name  is  spelt  in  almost  as  many  diflerent  ways 
as  there  are  books  and  manuscripts  in  which  the  range  is  mentioned. 


72  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

having  a  mountain  for  a^n  everlasting  prospect  on 
the  south,  between  which  and  the  village  flows  the 
Pokono  Creek,  descending  from  the  mountain 
range  of  that  name,  and  uniting  with  the  Analo- 
mink  in  its  neighborhood.  Stroudsburg  is  the 
shire  town  of  Monroe  County.  The  settlements 
at  this  place,  during  the  French  war  of  1755 — 
1763,  formed  the  northern  frontier  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, and  were  within  the  territory  of  the  Minisink 
Indians,  or  Monseys,  as  they  w^ere  sometimes 
called.  The  chain  of  military  posts  erected  by  the 
colony  of  Pennsylvania,  extending  from  the  Dela- 
ware to  the  Potomac,  was  commenced  at  this  point ; 
and  the  celebrated  chief  of  the  Lenelenoppes,  or 
Delaware  Indians,  Teedyuscung,  was  occasionally 
a  resident  here.  This  chieftain  was  an  able  man, 
who  played  a  distinguished  but  subtle  part  during 
the  border  troubles  of  the  French  war,  particularly 
toward  the  close  of  his  life.  He  was  charged  with 
treachery  toward  the  English,  and  perhaps  justly ; 
and  yet  candor  demands  the  acknowledgment, 
that  he  did  not  take  up  the  hatchet  against  them 
without  something  more  than  a  plausible  reason  ; 
while  by  so  doing,  he  was  the  means  of  restoring 
to  his  people  something  of  the  dignity  characteris- 
tic of  his  race,  but  which  had  almost  disappeared 
under  the  oppression  of  the  Six  Nations.  He  was 
professedly  a  convert  to  the  Moravian  Missiona- 
ries.    His  wife  was  sincerely  such,  and  became  a 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  73 

steadfast  and  exemplary  member  of  the  Christian 
Church.  But  according  to  the  journals  of  the  mis- 
sionaries themselves,  as  collated  by  Loskiel,  his 
conduct  in  subsequent  years  reflected  but  httle 
credit  upon  the  faith  of  his  new  spiritual  advisers.* 
Whether  injustice  may  not  have  been  done  him 
in  this  respect  also,  is  a  question  upon  which  much 
light  will  be  thrown  in  a  subsequent  chapter.  He 
came  to  a  melancholy  end  :  but  it  is  not  necessa- 
ry to  anticipate  the  progress  of  events,  soon  to  be 
unfolded  for  consideration  in  their  regular  order. 

The  country  immediately  west  of  the  Blue 
Mountains,  at  least  as  far  in  either  direction  as  it 
could  be  viewed  from  the  ancient  tavern  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Gap  of  j^Eolus,  is  exceedingly  wild 
and  forbidding.     A  deep  and  gloomy  ravine, 

"  Tangled  with  fern  and  intricate  with  thorn," 

interposes  between  the  base  of  the  mountain  and 
the  partially  cultivated  land  beyond,  and  the  moun- 

*  "  Among  those  baptised  in  1750  was  one  Tadeuskund,  called  Honest 
John  by  the  English.  His  baptism  was  delayed  some  time,  because  of  his 
wavering  disposition.  But  having  once  been  present  at  a  baptism,  he  said 
to  one  of  the  brethren : — "  I  am  distressed  that  the  time  is  not  yet  come 
that  I  shall  be  baptised  and  cleansed  in  the  blood  of  Christ."  Being  ask- 
ed how  he  felt, during  the  baptism,  he  replied  : — '  1  cannot  describe  it ;  but 
I  wept  and  trembled.'  He  then  spoke  with  the  Missionaries  in  a  very  unre- 
served manner,  saying  that  he  had  been  a  very  bad  man  all  his  life,  that 
he  had  no  power  to  resist  evil,  and  that  he  had  never  before  been  so  desi- 
rous to  be  delivered  from  sin,  and  to  be  made  partaker  of  our  Lord's  grace, 
and  added — '  O  that  I  were  baptised  and  cleansed  in  his  blood  !'  He 
evinced  this  fervor  ever  after,  and  was  named  Gideon." — Loskiel. 

9 


74  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

tain  itself  is  darkly  wooded,  on  that  side,  to  its 
crest.  During  the  first  ten  miles  of  the  distance 
toward  Wyoming  the  country  is  exceedingly  hilly, 
and  for  the  most  part  but  indifferently  cultivated 
— albeit  an  occasional  farm  presents  an  exception. 
Several  of  the  hills  are  steep,  and  high,  and  broad. 
In  the  direction  of  Pokono  Mountain  the  country 
becomes  more  wild  and  rugged — affording,  of 
course,  at  every  turn,  and  from  the  top  of  every 
hill,  extensive  prospects,  and  ever-changing  land- 
scapes, diversified  with  woodlands,  cornfields,  farm- 
houses, rocks  and  glens. 

When  the  summit  of  Pokono  is  attained,  the 
traveller  is  upon  the  top  of  that  wild  and  desolate 
table  of  Pennsylvania,  extending  for  upward  of 
a  hundred  miles,  between  and  parallel  with  the 
Delaware  and  Susquehanna  rivers,  and  from  twen- 
ty to  thirty-five  miles  in  breadth.  Behind  him  is 
a  noble  landscape  of  wooded  hills  and  cultivated 
valleys,  bounded  eastward  and  south  by  the  Blue 
Mountains,  which  form  a  branching  range  of  the 
AUeghanies.  The  Wind-Gap  is  distinctly  and 
beautifully  in  sight.  But  facing  westwardly,  and 
glancing  toward  the  north,  and  the  south,  the  pros- 
pect is  as  dreary  as  naked  rocks,  and  shrub  oaks, 
and  stunted  pines  and  a  death-like  solitude  can 
make  it.  The  general  surface  is  rough  and  bro- 
ken, hills  rising,  and  valleys  sinking,  by  fifties,  if 
not  by  hundreds,  over  the  whole  broad  mountain 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  75 

surface.  In  many  places,  for  miles,  there  is  no 
human  habitation  in  view,  and  no  one  bright  or 
cheerful  spot  upon  which  the  eye  can  repose.  The 
gloom,  if  not  the  grandeur,  of  a  large  portion  of 
this  inhospitable  region,  is  increased  by  the  cir- 
cumstance that  it  is  almost  a  continuous  morass, 
across  which  the  turnpike  is  formed  by  a  cause- 
way of  logs,  insufficiently  covered  with  earth,  and 
bearing  the  appropriate  name  of  a  corduroy  road.* 
The  next  stopping  place  is  in  the  valley  of  the 
Tobyhanna,  a  black  looking  tributary  of  the  Le- 
high— eight  miles.  Now  and  then,  sometimes  at 
the  distance  of  one  mile,  and  again  at  the  distance 
of  three  or  four,  is  passed  a  miserable  human  dwel- 
ling :  but  the  country  presents  the  same  sullen, 
rude,  uncultivable  character.  From  the  Tobyhan- 
na to  Stoddardsville,  on  the  dreary  banks  of  the 
Lehigh  itself,  is  another  eight  miles  of  most  enor- 
mous length.  There  are  ravines,  and  more  gentle 
valleys,  but  they  are  not  fertile.  There  are  hills, 
but  they  are  sterile  and  forbidding — rough  with 
brambles,  or  destitute  of  all  comely  vegetation. 
The  waters  of  the  Lehigh,  oozing  from  fens  and 
marshes,  are  dark  and  angry  as  the  Styx.  The 
axes  of  the  lumbermen,  and  the  fires  repeatedly 
kindled  to  sweep  over  the  mountains  by  the  ruth- 

*  This  route  was  first  cut  through  by  General  Sullivan,  for  the  passage 
of  his  army,  in  the  celebrated  campaign  against  the  country  of  the  SixNa^ 
tions  in  1779 


76  HISTORY    OF    AVyOMING. 

less  hunters,  have  long  since  destroyed  the  native 
forest-pines ;  and  in  their  stead  the  whole  country 
has  been  covered  with  dwarfs — oak  and  pine — 
among  which,  standing  here  and  there  in  blacken- 
ed solitude,  may  be  seen  the  scathed  trunk  of  a 
yet  unfallen  primitive.  In  the  contemplation  of 
such  an  impracticable  mass  of  matter  as  this  ex- 
tended mountain  range  presents,  one  cannot  but 
apply  the  language  of  Dr.  Johnson  relative  to  some 
portions  of  the  highlands  of  Scotland,  who  charac- 
terizes it  as  matter  which  has  apparently  been 
the  fortuitous  production  of  the  fighting  elements  ; 
matter,  incapable  ofpower  and  usefulness,  dismiss- 
ed by  nature  from  her  care,  or  quickened  only  by 
one  sullen  power  of  useless  vegetation. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Wilkesbarre — The  Landscape — Indian  names  of  Wyoming — The  Delar- 
wares  and  their  origin — Ancient  remains — The  Shawanesesent  to  Wyo- 
ming—Relations  between  the  Delawares  and  Six  Nations— Indian  Coun- 
cil at  Philadelphia,  in  1743— Canassateego— his  speech— The  Delawares 
driven  to  Wyoming — Tradition  of  the  Delawares  respecting  their  submis- 
sion to  the  Six  Nations— Refutation  by  Geaeral  Harrison. 

The  first  glance  into  the  far-famed  Valley  of  Wy- 
oming, travelling  westwardly,  is  from  the  brow  of 
the  Pokono  mountain  range,  below  which  it  lies 
at  the  depth  of  a  thousand  feet,  distinctly  defined 
by  the  double  barrier  of  nearly  parallel  mountains, 
between  which  it  is  embosomed.  There  is  a  beet- 
ling precipice  upon  the  verge  of  the  eastern  bar- 
rier,  called  "Prospect  Rock,"  from  the  top  of  which 
nearly  the  entire  valley  can  be  surveyed  at  a  sin- 
gle view,  forming  one  of  the  richest  and  most 
beautiful  landscapes  upon  which  the  eye  of  man 
ever  rested.  Through  the  centre  of  the  valley 
flows  the  Susquehanna,  the  winding  course  of 
which  can  be  traced  the  whole  distance.  Several 
green  islands  slumber  sweetly  in  its  embrace,  while 
the  sight  revels  amidst  the  garniture  of  fields  and 
woodlands,  and  to  complete  the  picture,  low  m  the 
9* 


78  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

distance  may  be  dimly  seen  the  borough  of  Wil- 
kesbarre''^ ;    especially  the  spires  of  its  churches. 

The  hotel  at  which  the  traveller  rests  in  Wilkes- 
barre  is  upon  the  margin  of  the  river,  the  waters 
of  which  are  remarkably  transparent  and  pure,  ex- 
cepting in  the  seasons  of  the  spring  and  autumnal 
floods.  But  a  few  rods  above  a  noble  bridge  spans 
the  river,  leading  from  Wilkesbarre  to  the  opposite 
town  of  Kingston.  From  the  observatory  of  the 
hotel  a  full  view  of  the  whole  valley  is  obtained — 
or  rather,  in  a  clear  atmosphere,  the  steep  wild 
mountains,  by  which  the  valley  is  completely  shut 
in,  rise  on  every  hand  with  a  distinctness  which 
accurately  defines  its  dimensions, — while  the  val- 
ley itself,  especially  on  the  western,  or  opposite  side 
of  the  river,  presents  a  view  of  several  small  towns, 
or  scattered  villages,  planted  along,  but  back  from 
the  river,  at  the  distance  of  a  few  miles  apart, — 
the  whole  intervening  and  contiguous  territory 
being  divided  into  farms  and  gardens,  with  fruit 
and  ornamental  trees.  Comfortable  farm-houses 
are  thickly  studded  over  the  valley  ;  among  which 
are  not  a  few  more  ambitious  dwellings,  denoting 
by  their  air,  and  the  disposition  of  their  grounds, 
both  wealth  and  taste.  Midway  through  the  val- 
ley winds  the  river,  its  banks  adorned  with  grace- 

*This  compound  was  formed,  and  bestowed  upon  this  borough  as  its 
name,  in  honor  of  JbA«  fVilkcs  and  Colonel  Barre — names  famous  in  the 
•nnals  of  British  politics  at  the  time  when  it  was  planted  by  the  whites. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  79 

ful  and  luxuriant  foliage,  and  disclosing  at  every 
turn  some  bright  spot  of  beauty.  On  the  eastern 
side,  in  the  rear  of  the  borough,  and  for  a  few  miles 
north,  the  dead  level  of  the  valley  is  rendered  still 
more  picturesque,  by  being  broken  into  swelling 
elevations  and  lesser  valleys,  adorned  in  spots  with 
groves  and  clumps  of  trees,  with  the  ivy  and  other 
creeping  parasites,  as  upon  the  river  brink,  cling- 
ing to  their  branches  and  adding  beauty  to  the 
graceful  foliage.  The  village  or  borough  of  Wilkes- 
barre,  so  far  as  the  major  part  of  the  buildings  are 
to  be  taken  into  the  account,  is  less  beautiful  than 
it  might  be.  Nevertheless  there  are  a  goodly  num- 
ber of  well  built  and  genteel  houses,  to  which,  and 
the  pleasant  gardens  attached,  the  pretty  couplet 
of  the  poet  might  be  applied  : — 

Tall  trees  o'ershade  them,  creepers  fondly  grace 
Lattice  and  porch,  and  sweetest  flowers  embrace. 

The  people  are  for  the  most  part  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  New-England,  and  have  brought  with 
them  into  this  secluded  region  the  simple  manners 
and  habits,  and  the  piety  of  their  fathers. 

This  valley  of  Wyoming  is  rich  in  its  historical 
associations,  even  of  days  long  preceding  the  events 
of  the  American  revolution,  which  were  the  occa- 
sion of  its  consecration  in  the  deathless  song  pre- 
fixed to  the  present  narrative.  The  length  of  the 
valley,  from  the  Lackawannock  Gap,  where  the 


80  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

Susquehanna  plunges  into  it  through  a  narrow  de- 
file of  high  rocky  mountains  at  the  north,  to  a  like 
narrow  pass  called  the  Nanticoke  Gap,  at  the  south, 
is  nearly  twenty  miles — averaging  about  three 
'miles  in  width.  As  already  mentioned,  it  is  walled 
in  by-  ranges  of  steep  mountains  of  about  one  thou- 
sand feet  in  height  upon  the  eastern  side,  and  eight 
hundred  feet  upon  the  western.  These  mountains 
are  very  irregular  in  their  formation,  having  eleva- 
ted points,  and  deep  ravines,  or  openings,  which 
are  called  gaps.  They  are  in  general  yet  as  wild 
as  when  discovered,  and  are  clothed  with  pines, 
dwarf  oaks  and  laurels,  interspersed  with  other 
descriptions  of  woods — deciduous  and  evergreen. 
Like  many  other  places  of  which  the  red  man 
has  been  dispossessed,  and  which  may  previously 
have  belonged  to  different  clans  or  tribes  of  the 
same  race,  this  valley  has  been  known  by  a  varie- 
ty of  names.  By  the  Lenelenoppes,  or  Delawares, 
its  original  proprietors,  so  far  as  its  history  is 
known,  the  valley  was  called  Maugh-wau-wa-me, 
or  The  Large  Meadows.  The  Five  Nations,  who 
conquered  it  from  the  Delawares,  called  it  S^gah' 
on-iO'Wa-nOi  or  The  Large  Flats,  The  early 
German  missionaries,  Moravians,  catching  the 
sound  as  nearly  as  they  could,  wrote  the  name  M'- 
cheweuwami.  Other  corruptions  and  pronuncia- 
tions succeeded,  among  which  were  WyomiCf  Wo' 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  81 

jomicJc,    Wyomink,   and    lastly    Wyomingj    which 
will  not  soon  be  changed.* 

The  territory  forming  the  states  of  Pennsylvania, 
New-Jersey,  Delaware,  and  part  of  Maryland,  was 
principally  in  the  occupancy  of  the  Lenelenoppes, 
consisting  of  many  distinct  tribes  and  sub-divisions, 
at  the  time  of  the  settlement  of  the  country  by  the 
Europeans.  The  name  Delaware  was  given  them 
by  the  Enghsh,  after  the  name  they  had  bestowed 
upon  the  river  along  which  their  larger  towns  were 
situated,  in  honor  of  Lord  De  la  Wari'.-f  There 
were  indeed  clans  or  military  colonies  of  the  Aqua- 
nuschioni,  or  "  United  People ;"  the  Maquas  or 
Mengwes  of  the  Dutch,  and  the  Iroquois  of  the 
French,  but  chiefly  known  in  American  history  as 
the  Five,  and  afterward  the  Six  Nations,  already 
among  them,  within  the  territory  now  forming  both 
New-Jersey  and  Pennsylvania.  But  these  were 
not  large,  and  the  Lenelenoppes,  or  Original  PeO' 
pie,  as  the  name  denotes,  composed  the  great  ma- 
jority.J 

*  I  have  two  manuscript  letters  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  dated  March 
23,  and  25,  1763,  in  both  of  which  he  writes  "  Skahandowana,  or  Wyo- 
ming."  The  Moravian  journals  forming  the  basis  of  Loskiel's  history, 
uniformly  gave  the  name  "  Wajomick." 

t  The  Indian  name  of  the  Delaware  was  Maku-isk-kiskan. 

X  The  Lenelenoppes,  at  that  time,  consisted  of  the  Assumpinks,  Ranko- 
kas,  (Lamikas,  or  Chickaquaas,)  Andastakas,  Neshaminies,  Shackmaxons, 
Mantas,  Minisinks,  and  Mandes ;  and  within  what  is  now  New-Jersey, 
the  Narraticongs,  Capitinasses,  Gacheos,  Munseys,  and  Pomptons.—  Fide 
Fraud's  Pennsylvania. 


8S 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 


It  is  said  by  those  who  are  skilled  in  Indian  re- 
searches, that  the  Lenelenoppes,  although  claim- 
ing thus  to  be  the  original  people,  were  not  the 
first  occupants  of  the  country  in  the  possession  of 
which  they  were  found  ;  but  that  they  came  hither 
from  toward  the  setting  sun, — that  terra  incognita 
"  the  great  west."  According  to  their  own  tradi- 
tions, when  on  their  way  thence  they  found  strong 
nations,  having  regular  military  defences,  in  the 
country  of  the  Mississippi,  whom  they  conquered. 
Pursuing  their  course  toward  the  east,  they  took 
possession  of  the  sea  coast  from  the  Hudson  river 
to  the  Potomac,  including  the  country  of  the  Del- 
aware and  Susquehanna  rivers,  to  their  sources. 
In  the  allotment  of  their  newly  acquired  territory, 
one  of  their  tribes,  the  Munseys  or  Minisinks,  plant- 
ed themselves  in  the  region  between  the  Kittatin- 
nunk,*  or  Blue  Mountains,  and  the  Susquehanna. 
One  large  division  of  their  tribe  kindled  their  coun- 
cil fire  at  Minisink,  and  another  in  the  valley  of 
Wyoming, — formerly  occupied  by  the  Susquehan- 
nocks, — once  a  powerful  nation  which  had  been 
exterminated  by  the  Aquanuschioni.  Whether 
there  be  any  just  foundation  for  the  legends  of  the 
Delawares,  as  to  their  battles  and  conquests  over 
a  people  so  far  in  advance  of  themselves  in  the 
art  of  war  as  to  have  reared  strong  and  extensive 

*•  Another  variation  in  the  orttiography  of  these  mountains. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING,  83 

military  works,  or  not,  it  is  nevertheless  certain, 
from  the  character  and  extent  of  the  tumuli  exist- 
ing in  the  valley  of  Wyoming  when  taken  posses- 
sion of  by  the  pale  faces,  and  from  the  fact  that 
large  oaks  were  growing  upon  some  of  the  mounds, 
that  the  country,  centuries  before,  had  been  in  the 
possession  of  a  race  of  men  far  in  advance  of  the 
Delawares  in  the  arts  of  civilization  and  war. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  Shawanese  Indians, 
who  had  been  driven  from  their  own  country,  in 
what  is  now  Georgia  and  Florida,  by  a  nation  or 
nations  more  powerful  than  themselves,  occupied, 
by  permission,  a  portion  of  territory  at  the  forks  of 
the  Delaware  ;  but  finding  them  to  be  troublesome 
neighbors,  the  Delawares,  then  in  their  greatest 
numbers  residing  farther  down  the  river,  compell- 
ed them  to  remove, — assigning  to  their  use  the 
valley  of  Wyoming,  (whence  the  Munseys  had  re- 
turned back  to  the  Delaware,)  and  a  portion  of  the 
territory  farther  down  the  Susquehanna,  at  Sha- 
mokin.  Thither  the  Shawanese  removed — plant- 
ing themselves  anew  at  both  points.  They  were 
indeed  as  Bancroft  describes  them,  '^  a  restless 
nation  of  wanderers,"  and  for  years  subsequent 
to  the  commencement  of  the  English  colonies  in 
America,  their  separate  clans  were  straggling  in 
the  woods  and  simultaneously  kindling  their  fires 
upon  the  waters  of  the  Mobile,  the  Santee,  the 
Schenandoah,  the  Ohio,  Delaware  and  Susquehan- 


84  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING . 

na.  In  Wyoming  they  built  their  town  upon  the 
west  side  of  the  river,  below  the  present  town  of 
Kingston,  upon  what  are  to  this  day  called  the 
Shawaniese  Flatts.* 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  the  question  as  to 
the  exact  relations  subsisting  between  the  Dela- 
wares  and  the  Five  Nations,  at  the  period  under 
consideration.  The  latter,  it  is  well  known,  had 
carried  their  arms  south  to  the  Tennessee,  and 
claimed  the  jurisdiction  of  the  entire  country  from 
the  Sorel,  in  Canada,  south  of  the  Great  Lakes,  to 
the  junction  of  the  Ohio  with  the  Mississippi,  and 
to  the  Atlantic  coast,  from  the  Santee  to  the  estu- 
ary of  the  Hudson,  by  the  right  of  conquest.  Over 
the  Delawares  they  claimed,  and,  at  times,  exer- 
cised, sovereign  power,  in  the  most  dictatorial  and 
arbitrary  manner,  although  the  venerable  and  ex- 
cellent Heckewelder,  ever  the  champion  of  the 
Delawares,  labors  hard  to  show  that  the  latter  were 
never  conquered  by  them.  Brant,  the  celebrated 
Mohawk  chieftain,  than  whose  authority  there  is 

*  It  was  comparatively  but  a  small  clan  of  the  Sbawanese  which  came 
to  the  Delaware,  numbering  no  more  at  the  first,  according  to  Bancroft, 
who  cited  the  Logan  Mss.  for  his  authority,  than  sixty  or  eighty  families 
Their  number  however,  was  subsequently  increased,  so  that  about  the 
year  1732,  they  counted  between  three  and  four  hundred  warriors  within 
the  territory  of  Pennsylvania.  It  is  most  likely  that  in  leaving  the  south 
the  larger  portion  of  the  nation  diverged  to  the  west,  on  their  way  from 
he  south,  settling  at  Shawnee-town— on  the  Ohio,— being  afterwards  joined 
by  their  brethren  in  the  Delaware  country.  They  were  certainly  a  people 
of  BO  much  consideration  as  to  bo  addressed  as  "BmoTHRRS"  by  the 
Aquanuschioni. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  -  85 

none  better  upon  such  a  subject,  in  a  letter  to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Miller  of  Princeton,  never  yet  published, 
claimed  but  a  quasi  sovereignty  for  the  Aquanus- 
chioni  over  the  Delawares.  But  there  was  a  trans- 
action in  1742,  which  shows  that  the  latter  were 
at  that  time  in  a  situation  of  the  most  abject  sub- 
ordination to  the  Six  Nations  ;*  and  Proud  says 
this  confederacy  "  had  held  sovereignty  over  all 
the  Indians,  both  in  Pennsylvania  and  the  neigh- 
boring provinces,  for  a  long  series  of  years."f 
Though  apparently  a  digression,  the  transaction 
referred  to  is  nevertheless  intimately  connec- 
ted with  the  history  of  Wyoming,  and  a  rapid 
review  of  the  incident  cannot  be  out  of  place. 

In  the  summer  of  1742,  an  Indian  council  was 
convened  in  Philadelphia,  upon  the  invitation  of 
Lieutenant  Governor  George  Thomas,  at  that  time 
administering  the  government  of  the  Proprietaries, 
as  WiUiam  Penn  and  his  successors  were  styled. 
The  council  was  numerously  attended,  large  dele- 
gations being  present  from  each  of  the  Six  Nations, 
excepting  the  Senecas.  Of  these  there  were  but 
three  chiefs  at  the  council, — that  nation  having 
been  prevented  sending  a  stronger  deputation  by 

*  Early  in  the  eighteenth  century  the  Five  Nations  were  increased  to  Six 
by  the  addition  of  the  Tuscaroras,  from  North  Carolina.  The  Five  Nations 
adopted  and  transplanted  them  on  account  of  a  similarity  in  their  lan- 
guage to  their  own,  inducing  the  belief  that  they  were  originally  of  the 
eSime  slock. 

t  Proud's  Pennsylvania,  vol.  ii.  p.  293. 

10 


86  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

reason  of  a  famine  in  their  country,  "  so  great  that 
a  father  had  been  compelled  to  sacrifice  a  part  of 
his  fiamily,  even  his  own  children,  for  the  support 
and  preservation  of  himself  and  the  other  part."* 
There  seem  likewise  to  have  been  no  Mohawks 
present.!  But  the  Delawares,  several  tribes  of 
them,  were  represented.  The  chief  object  for  the 
convocation  of  this  council  was  '^  to  kindle  a  new 
fire,"  and  "  strengthen  the  chain  of  friendship " 
with  the  Indians,  in  anticipation  of  a  war  with 
France.  Other  subjects  were  brought  before  the 
council  for  consideration.  Among  them,  the  Gov- 
ernor produced  a  quantity  of  goods, — being,  as  he 
remarked  in  his  speech,  a  balance  due  the  Indians 
for  a  section  of  the  valley  of  the  Susquehanna,  "  on 
both  sides  of  the  river,"  which  had  been  purchased 
of  the  Six  Nations  six  years  before.  Canassatee- 
go,  a  celebrated  Onondaga  chief,  who  was  the 
principal  speaker  on  the  part  of  the  Indians  during 
the  protracted  sittings  of  the  council,  recognized 
the  sale  of  the  land.  But  in  the  course  of  their 
discussions,  he  took  occasion  to  rebuke  the  whites 
for  trespassing  upon  the  unceded  lands  northward 
of  the  Kittochtinny  Hills,  and  also  upon  the  Juni- 


*  opening  speech  of  Governor  Tiiomas  to  the  Six  Nations.  Vide  Col. 
don's  Canada,  Appendix,  p.  59. 

■f  To  illustrate,  in  part,  the  changes  which  Indian  names  undergo,  in  the 
process  of  writing  them  by  different  hands,  it  may  be  noted  that  at  this 
council,  Onondagas  was  spelt  OHonfo^o*;  Cayugas,  Caiyoquod ;  OncidaS) 
Jinoyintti  Senec&B,  JenontotBanos ;  Tuscaroras,  Tuscaroros. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  87 

ata.  ^'  That  country,"  said  Canassateego,  ''  be- 
longs to  us,  in  right  of  conquest ;  we  having  bought 
it  with  our  blood,  and  taken  it  from  our  enemies 
in  fair  war."* 

'rhis,  however,  was  not  the  principal  transaction 
establishing  the  fact  that  the  Six  Nations  were  in 
the  exercise  of  absolute  power  over  the  Delawares. 
On  the  fourth  day  of  the  council,  the  acting  Gov- 
ernor called  the  attention  of  the  Six  Nations  to  the 
conduct  of  "  a  branch  of  their  cousins,  the  Dela- 
wares," in  regard  to  a  section  of  territory,  at  the 
Forks  of  the  river,  which  the  Proprietaries  had 
purchased  of  them  fifty-five  years  before,  but  from 
which  the  Indians  had  refused  to  remove.  The 
consequence  had  been  a  series  of  unpleasant  dis- 
turbances between  the  white  settlers  and  the  red- 
men  ;  and  as  the  latter  were  ever  prompt  in  calling 
upon  the  Proprietaries  to  remove  white  intruders 
from  their  lands,  the  acting  Governor  now  in  turn 
called  upon  the  Six  Nations  to  remove  those  In- 
dians from  the  lands  at  the  Forks,  which  had  been 
purchased  and  paid  for  in  good  faith  such  a  long 
while  ago. 

*  In  regard  to  this  complaint  of  the  encroachments  of  the  white  settlers 
upon  their  lands,  it  appears  that  it  had  been  preferred  before.  Gov.  Thomas, 
in  reply,  stated  that  the  Proprietaries  had  endeavored  to  prevent  those 
intrusions,  and  had  sent  magistrates  expressly  to  remove  the  intruders.  To 
which  Ganasseteego  rejoined—"  They  did  not  do  their  duty ;  so  far  from 
removing  the  people,  they  leagued  with  the  trespassers,  and  made  sur- 
Tcys  for  themselves  !"  Thus  has  it  been  with  the  poor  Indians  always. 


88  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

After  three  days'  consideration,  the  Indians 
came  again  into  council,  when  Canasseteego  open- 
ed the  proceedings  by  saying  that  they  had  care- 
fully examined  the  case,  and  "  had  seen  with  their 
own  eyes,"  that  their  cousins  had  been  "  a  very 
unruly  people,"and  were  "altogether  in  the  wrong." 
They  had  therefore  determined  to  remove  them. 
Then  turning  to  the  Delawares,  and  holding  a  belt 
of  wampum  in  his  hand,  he  spoke  to  them  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  Cousins  !  Let  this  belt  of  wampum  serve  to 
chastise  you  !  You  ought  to  be  taken  by  the  hair 
of  the  head  and  shaken  severely,  till  you  recover 
your  senses  and  become  sober.  You  don't  know 
what  ground  you  stand  on,  nor  what  you  are  do- 
ing. Our  brother  Onas's'*  cause  is  very  just  and 
plain,  and  his  intentions  are  to  preserve  friend- 
ship. On  the  other  hand,  your  cause  is  bad ;  your 
heart  far  from  being  upright ;  and  you  are  mali- 
ciously bent  to  break  the  chain  of  friendship  with 
our  brother  Onas,  and  his  people.  We  have  seen 
with  our  eyes  a  deed  signed  by  nine  of  your  an- 
cestors above  fifty  years  ago,  for  this  very  land, 
and  a  release  signed,  not  many  years  since,  by 
some  of  yourselves  and  chiefs  now  living,  to  the 
number  of  fifteen  or  upward.     But  how  came  you 

*  Onas,  in  the  Indian  tongue,  signifies  Pen,  and  was  the  name  by  which 
they  always  addressed  the  Governors  of  Pennsylvania,  in  honor  of  its  foun- 
der. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  89 

to  take  upon  you  to  sell  land  at  all  ?  We  conquer- 
ed you  ;  we  made  women  of  you  ;  you  know  you 
are  women,  and  can  no  more  sell  land  than  wo- 
men. Nor  is  it  fit  you  should  have  the  power  of 
selHng  lands,  since  you  would  abuse  it.  This  land 
that  you  claim  has  gone  through  your  bellies  ;  you 
have  been  furnished  with  clothes,  meat  and  drink, 
by  the  goods  paid  you  for  it ;  and  now  you  want 
it  again,  like  little  children — as  you  are  !  But  what 
makes  you  sell  land  in  the  dark  ?  Did  you  ever 
tell  us  that  you  had  sold  this  land  ?  Did  we  ever 
receive  any  part,  even  the  value  of  a  pipe-shank, 
from  you  for  it  ?  You  have  told  us  a  blind  story,* 
that  you  sent  a  messenger  to  us  to  inform  us  of  the 
sale ;  but  he  never  came  among  us,  nor  did  we 
ever  hear  any  thing  about  it.  This  is  acting  in 
the  dark,  and  very  different  from  the  conduct  our 
Six  Nations  observe  in  the  sales  of  land.  On  such 
occasions  they  give  public  notice,  and  invite  all 
the  Indians  of  their  United  Nations,  and  give  them 
all  a  share  of  the  presents  they  receive  for  their 
lands.  This  is  the  behavior  of  the  wise  United 
Nations.  But  we  find  you  are  none  of  our  blood  : 
you  act  a  dishonest  part,  not  only  in  this,  but  in 
other  matters :  your  ears  are  ever  open  to  slander- 
ous reports  about  your  brethren  :  you  receive  them 
with  as  much  greediness  as  lewd  women  receive 

*  Referring,  probably,  to  explanations  the  Delawares  had  attempted  to 
give  in  their  private  consultations. 

10* 


90  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

the  embraces  of  bad  men.  And  for  these  reasons, 
we  charge  you  to  remove  instantly.  We  don't 
give  you  the  liberty  to  think  about  it.  You  are 
women.  Take  the  advice  of  a  wise  man,  and  re- 
move immediately.  You  may  return  to  the  other 
side  of  the  Delaware,  where  you  came  from.  But 
we  do  not  know  whether,  considering  how  you 
have  demeaned  yourselves,  you  will  be  permitted 
to  live  there  ;  or  whether  you  have  not  swallowed 
that  land  down  your  throats,  as  well  as  the  land 
on  this  side.  We  therefore  assign  you  two  places 
to  go  to — either  to  Wyoming,  or  Shamokin.  You 
may  go  to  either  of  these  places,  and  then  we  shall 
have  you  more  under  our  eye,  and  shall  see  how 
you  behave.  Don't  deliberate,  but  remove  away, 
and  take  this  belt  of  wampum." 

This  speech  having  been  translated  into  Eng- 
lish, and  also  into  the  Delaware  tongue,  Canassa- 
teego  took  another  string  of  wampum,  and  pro- 
ceeded : — 

"Cousins!  After  our  just  reproof  and  absolute 
order  to  depart  from  the  land,  you  are  now  to  take 
notice  of  what  we  have  further  to  say  to  you. 
This  string  of  wampum  serves  to  forbid  you,  your 
children  and  grand-children,  to  the  latest  posteri- 
ty, forever,  meddling  with  land  affairs.  Neither 
you,  nor  any  that  shall  descend  from  you,  are  ever 
hereafter  to  presume  to  sell  any  land  :  for  wliich 
purpose  you  are  to  preserve  this  string  in  memory 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING 


91 


r 


of  what  your  uncles  have  this  day  given  you  in 
charge.  We  have  some  other  business  to  trans- 
act with  our  brethren,  and  therefore  depart  the 
council,  and  consider  what  has  been  said  to  you."* 
There  was  no  diplomatic  mincing  of  words  in 
the  speech  of  the  Onondaga  chieftain.  He  spoke 
not  only  with  the  bluntness  of  unsophisticated 
honesty,  but  with  the  air  of  one  having  authority, 
nor  dared  the  Delawares  to  disobey  his  peremp- 
tory command.  They  immediately  left  the  coun- 
cil, and  soon  afterward  removed  from  the  dispu- 
ted territory — some  few  of  them  to   Shamokin,f 

*  Canassateego  was  famous  as  an  orator  and  counsellor  among  the  On. 
ondagas,  and  his  counsels  and  memory  were  cherished  by  the  people  of  the 
Six  Nations,  for  a  long  number  of  years.  Dr.  Franklin  has  somewhere  re- 
lated an  amusing  anecdote  of  him,  the  point  of  which  lies  in  the  circum- 
stance of  his  visiting  Albany  once,  to  sell  his  furs,  and  going  to  church 
with  Hans  Jansen,  the  merchant  to  whom  he  expected  to  sell  them.  Can- 
assateego took  it  into  his  head,  during  the  service,  that  the  minister  was 
preaching  about  him  and  his  furs.  And  he  was  confirmed  in  this  opinion 
after  church,  from  the  fact  that  Jansen  offered  him  six  pence  per  pound 
less  than  he  had  done  before  the  service.  Everybody  «lse,  moreover,  to 
whom  he  afterward  offered  to  sell  his  furs,  would  only  give  him  three  and 
sixpence  per  pound  after  church,  in  stead  of  four  shillings  per  pound,  as 
had  been  offered  before.  The  old  chief  therefore  concluded  that  the  min- 
ister had  been  preaching  down  the  price  of  his  beaver-skins,  and  he  had 
no  good  opinion  of  the  "  black  coats  "  afterward.  It  is  stated  by  some 
authorities,  that  he  was  acompanied  by  two  hundred  and  thirty  warriors  on 
his  visit  to  Philadelphia  to  attend  the  council  spoken  of  in  the  text. 

t  Shamokin  was  an  Indian  town  at  the  junction  of  the  east  and  west 
branches  of  the  Susquehanna,  sixty  miles  below  Wyoming.  It  was  a  sort 
of  military  colony  of  the  Six  Nations,  and  the  residence  of  the  celebrated 
Cayuga  chief  Shickcalamy,  or  Shikellimus,  the  father  of  the  yet  more  cele- 
brated Logan,  the  chief  who  has  been  immortalized  by  Mr.  Jeffersen  in  his 
Notes  on  Virginia.  Shamokin  stood  upon  the  site  of  the  present  town  of 
Northumberland,  where  Dr.  Priestley  spent  the  latter  days  of  his  life,  and 
died.  Logan  was  named  after  James  Logan,  the  companion  of  Penn— a 
learned  man — for  a  long  time  secretary  of  the  colony,  and  greatly  beloved 
by  the  Indians. 


92  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

but  the  greater  portion  to  Wyoming.  The  whole 
tenor  of  the  speech,  moreover,  goes  to  estabHsh 
the  fact  that  the  Delawares  were  the  dependants — 
indeed  the  abject  subjects — of  the  Aquanuschioni, 
or  Mengwe,  as  the  Six  Nations  have  been  fre- 
quently called  by  modern  writers.  But  the  ques- 
tions how,  and  at  what  time,  the  Lenelenoppes 
were  brought  into  such  a  humiliating  condition, 
cannot  be  answered  with  precision.  The  Dela- 
wares themselves  allege  that  they  were  beguiled 
into  a  surrender  of  their  national  and  political 
manhood,  and  Mr.  Heckewelder  has  attempted  to 
sustain  the  pretension.  According  to  their  tradi- 
tion, the  Mengwe  and  Lenelenoppes  had  long  been 
at  war,  and  the  advantages  were  with  the  latter, 
until  for  their  own  common  safety  the  league  of 
the  Five  Nations  was  formed.  Strengthened  by 
this  union,  the  fortunes  of  war  began  to  turn  in 
their  favor — especially  as  they  were  soon  after- 
ward supplied  with  fire-arms  by  the  Dutch,  who 
were  now  engaged  in  colonizing  the  country  of  the 
Hudson  river.  By  the  aid  of  fire-arms  the  Men- 
gwe were  enabled  for  a  time  to  contend  both  with 
the  Lenelenoppes  and  their  new  enemies  on  the 
north — the  French ;  but  finding  themselves  at 
length  severely  pressed,  they  hit  upon  the  strata- 
gem by  which  their  older  enemy  was  caught  with 
guile,  and  disarmed  by  reason  of  his  own  magna- 
nimity.    Among  the  Indians  it  is  held  to  be  cow- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  93 

ardly  for  a  warrior  to  sue  for  peace.  Having 
taken  up  the  hatchet,  he  must  retain  it,  however 
weary  of  the  contest,  until  his  enemy  is  humbled, 
or  peace  restored  by  some  fortuitous  means  other 
than  a  direct  application  for  a  truce  by  himself. 
It  is  not  so,  however,  with  their  women,  who  fre- 
quently become  mediators,  else  their  wars  would 
be  interminable.  They  often  throw  themselves 
as  it  were  between  contending  tribes,  and  plead 
for  peace  with  great  pathos  and  effect ;  for  not- 
withstanding the  common  opinion  to  the  contrary, 
there  is  no  people  on  earth  among  whom  woman 
exercises  greater  influence  than  she  does  upon  the 
aboriginals  of  America.  "  Not  a  warrior,"  they 
would  say,- on  such  occasions,  "but  laments  the 
loss  of  a  son,  a  brother,  or  a  friend.  And  moth- 
ers, who  have  borne  with  cheerfulness  the  pangs 
of  child-birth,  and  the  anxiety  that  waits  upon  the 
infancy  and  ripening  maturity  of  their  sons,  behold 
their  promised  blessings  laid  low  upon  the  war- 
path, or  perishing  at  the  stake  in  unutterable  tor- 
ments." "  In  the  depth  of  their  grief,  they  curse 
their  wretched  existence,  and  shudder  at  the  idea 
of  child-bearing.  They  were  wont,  therefore,  to 
conjure  their  warriors,  on  account  of  their  suffer- 
ing wives,  their  helpless  children,  their  homes  and 
their  friends,  to  interchange  forgiveness,  to  throw 
down  their  hatchets,  and,  smoking  together  the 
pipe  of  peace,  embrace  as  friends  those  whom  they 


94  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

had  regarded  only  as  enemies."*  Appeals  like 
these  would  naturally  find  a  response,  even  from 
the  most  savage  heart ;  and  the  Dela wares  allege 
that  the  Six  Nations,  availing  themselves  of  this 
humane  characteristic  of  the  Indian  race,  by  artful 
appeals  to  their  humanity  and  benevolence,  per- 
suaded them,  as  the  only  means  of  saving  the  red- 
men  from  utter  extinction  by  reason  of  their  own 
frequent  and  bloody  wars,  to  assume  the  character 
of  WOMEN,  in  order  that  they  might  be  qualified  to 
act  as  general  mediators.  In  reply  to  their  objec- 
tions, it  was  urged  upon  them  by  their  dissembling 
foes  that  although  it  would  indeed  be  derogatory 
for  a  small  and  feeble  nation  to  assume  the  femi- 
nine character,  a  great  and  strong  nation,  of 
approved  valor,  like  the  Delawares,  could  not  only 
take  that  step  with  impunity,  but  win  immortal  re- 
nown for  their  magnanimity.  In  an  evil  hour,  and 
in  a  moment  of  blind  confidence,  the  Delawares 
yielded  to  the  importunity  of  the  Meng\^'e,  and 
formally  assumed  the  petticoat.  The  ceremony, 
as  the  Delawares  aflirm,  was  performed  at  Albany, 
or  rather  Fort  Orange,  about  the  year  1617,  in  the 
presence  of  the  Dutch  garrison — whom  they  charge 
as  having  aided  the  Mengwe  in  their  artful  scheme 
to  subdue  without  conquering  them.  The  arro- 
gance of  the  Six  Nations,  and  the  rights  which 
they  assumed  over  them  of  protection  and  com- 

♦  Heckewclder,  and  Gordon's  History  of  Peunsylvania. 


I 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  95 

mand,  soon  taught  the  Delawares  the  extent  of  the 
treachery  that  had  been  practised  against  them. 
But  it  was  then  too  late.*" 

Such  is  the  clumsy  manner  in  which  the  Del- 
awares endeavor  to  account  for  the  degraded  re- 
lation in  which  they  so  long  stood  in  respect  to 
the  Six  Nations.  But  "  Credat  Judceus  Amelia.'''' 
The  story  of  the  Six  Nations  has  always  been 
consistent  upon  the  subject,  viz.  ;  that  the  Dela- 
wares were  conquered  by  their  arms,  and  were 
compelled  ''  to  this  humiliating  concession,  as  the 
only  means  of  averting  impending  destruction." 
General  William  Henry  Harrison,  after  a  brief 
rehearsal  of  the  tradition,  and  the  efforts  of  Mr. 
Heckewelder  to  establish  its  truth,  thus  summari- 
ly and  effectually  disposes  of  the  question  : — "But 

*  Loskiel's  valuable  history  of  the  Moravian  missions  among  the  Amer- 
ican Indians,  preserves  an  account  of  the  negotiations  between  the  Iro- 
quois and  the  Delawares  resulting  in  the  arrangement,  in  detail — giving 
the  preliminary  message  from  the  former  at  length.  The  Delawares  say 
that  immediately  after  they  had  submitted  to  be  called  women,  that  they 
might,  as  peace-makers,  prevent  the  entire  destruction  of  the  Indian  race, 
the  Iroquois  appointed  a  great  feast, at  which  a  solemn  speech  was  delivered 
in  the  course  of  the  attending  ceremonies,  containing  three  principal  points. 
The  first  was  a  declaration  that  the  Delawares  were  women,  in  the  fol- 
owing  words:—  "We  dress  you  in  a  woman's  long  habit,  reaching 
down  to  your  feet,  and  adorn  you  with  ear-rings ;"  meaning  that  they 
should  no  more  take  up  arms.  The  second  point  was  thus  expressed  : — 
"  We  hang  a  calabash,  filled  with  oil  and  medicines,  upon  your  arm. 
With  the  oil  you  shall  cleanse  the  ears  of  the  other  nations,  that  they  may 
attend  to  good,  and  not  to  bad  words  ;  and  with  the  medicines  you  shall 
heal  those  who  are  walking  in  foolish  ways,  that  they  may  return  to  their 
senses,  and  incline  their  hearts  to  peace."  The  tliird  point  was  a  laconic 
exhortation  to  the  pursuits  of  agriculture,  thus :— "  We  deliver  into  your 
hands  a  plant  of  Indian  corn  and  a  hoe." 


6  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

even  if  Mr.  Heckewelder  had  succeeded  in  mak- 
ing his  readers  beheve  that  the  Delawares,   when 
they  submitted  to  the   degradation    proposed  to 
them  by  their  enemies,  were   influenced,   not  by 
fear,  but  by  the  benevolent  desire  to  put  a  stop  to 
the  calamities  of  war,  he  has  established  for  them 
the  reputation  of  being  the  most  egregious  dupes 
and  fools  that  the  world   has   ever  seen.     This  is 
not  often  the  case  with  Indian  sachems.     They 
are  rarely  cowards,  but  still  more  rarely  are  they 
deficient  in  sagacity  or  discernment  to  detect  any 
attempt  to  impose  upon  them.     I  sincerely  wish  I 
could  unite  with   the  worthy   German,   in  remov- 
ing this  stigma  upon  the  Delawares.     A  long  and 
intimate  knowledge  of  them  in  peace  and  war,  as 
enemies  and  friends,  has  left  upon  my  mind  the 
most  favorable  impressions  of  their  character  for 
bravery,  generosity,  and   fidehty  to   their  engage- 
ments."* 


*  Discourse  of  Gen.  William  Henry  Harrison,  on  the  Aborigines  of  the 
Valley  of  the  Ohio. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Arrival  of  the  Delawares  at  Wyoming— The  Nanticokes— The  Moravian 
Missions— Count  Zinzendorf— The  Assassins  and  the  Rattle-snalie — 
French  and  Indian  relations— The  Grass-hopper  War— Shawanese  flee 
from  Wyoming  to  the  Ohio — Teedyuscung  chosen  chief  of  the  Delawares 
— Removes  to  Wyoming — Massacre  at  Gnavlenhutten — Shawanese  and 
Delawares  join  the  French— Interposition  of  the  duakers  for  the  resto- 
ration of  peace— Indian  Council  at  Easton— Speech  of  Teedyuscung — 
Story  of  Weekquehela— Treaty  of  peace  with  Teedyuscung— The  em- 
bassies of  Christian  Frederick  Post— Efforts  of  Sir  William  Johnson- 
Equivocal  conduct  of  the  Six  Nations— Mistake  of  the  French— General 
Peace  with  the  Indians. 

The  removal  of  the  Delawares  from  the  Forks 
to  Wyoming  was  as  speedy  as  the  order  to  that 
end  had  been  peremptory.  It  has  been  stated  in 
a  preceding  page,  that  some  years  before  the  Wy- 
oming Valley  had  been  allotted,  by  the  Delawares, 
to  a  strong  clan  of  the  Shawanese.*  These  latter 
had  planted  themselves  upon  the  flats  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  river ;  and  on  their  arrival  at  the  same 
place,  the  Delawares  selected,  as  the  site  of  the 
town  they  were  to  build,  the  beautiful  plain  on  the 

*  In  his  account  of  Zinzendorfs  visit  to  "  Wajomick"  Loskiel  states 
that  "the  Shawanese  had  been  invited  thither  by  the  Iroquois,  with  a  view 
to  protect  the  silver  mines  said  to  be  in  the  neighborhood,  from  the  White 
people."  No  other  author  has  noted  this  tradition,  nor  have  the  silver 
mines  yet  been  discovered. 
11 


98 


HISTORY    OF    VnrOMING. 


eastern  side,  nearly  or  quite  opposite  to  the  Shaw- 
anese  town,  a  short  distance  only  below  the  present 
borough  of  Wilkesbarre.  Here  was  built  the  town 
of  Maugh-wau-wa-me  ;  the  original  of  Wyoming. 
Meantime  the  Nanticoke  Indians  had.  removed 
from  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland  to  the  lower 
part  of  the  Wyoming  Valley,  yvhich  yet  retains 
their  name.  "  Nanticoke  Falls"  is  a  rapid  on  the 
Susquehanna,  almost  precipitous  at  one  place, 
where  the  river  forces  its  passage  through  a  nar- 
row gorge  of  the  mountains,  and  escapes  from  the 
beautiful  valley  in  which  it  had  been  lingering  for 
upward  of  twenty  miles,  into  a  region  wild  with 
rock  and  glen.  The  Shawanese  made  no  opposi- 
tion to  the  arrival  of  their  new  neighbors.  In- 
deed both  clans  were  but  tenants  at  will  to  the  Six 
Nations,  and  for  a  season  they  lived  upon  terms 
sufficiently  amicable. 

It  was  during  the  same  year  that  the  soil  of 
Wyoming  was  first  trodden  by  the  feet  of  a  mis- 
sionary of  the  Christian  religion.  The  Moravians, 
or  "  United  Brethren,"  had  commenced  their  mis- 
sions in  the  new  world  several  years  before, — in 
Georgia  as  early  as  1734.  Their  benevolent  la- 
bors were  extended  to  Pennsylvania  and  New- 
York  six  years  afterward.  In  1742,  their  great 
founder  and  apostle.  Count  Zinzendorf,  visited 
America,  to  look  after  their  infant  missions.  He 
arrived  at  Bethlehem,  near  the  Forks  of  the  Dela- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  99 

ware,  in  the  following  year.  Affecting  represen- 
tations of  the  deplorable  moral  condition  of  the  In- 
dians had  reached  the  count  before  he  left  Ger- 
many, and  his  attention  was  early  directed  to  their 
situation,  and  their  wants,  while  visiting  the  mis- 
sionary stations  along  the  Delaware.  He  made 
several  journies  among  the  Indians  deeper  in  the 
interior,  and  succeeded  without  difficulty  in  esta- 
blishing a  friendly  intercourse  with  various  tribes. 
In  one  of  these  journies  he  plunged  through  the 
wilderness  into  the  valley  of  Wyoming,  for  the 
purpose  of  estabhshing  a  missionary  post  in  the 
town  of  the  Shawanese.  It  was  here,  during  the 
autumn  of  that  year,  that  one  of  those  beautiful 
and  touching  incidents  occurred,  which  add  a 
charm  to  the  annals  of  the  missionary  enterprise. 

The  count  had  expected  to  be  accompanied  by 
an  interpreter,  celebrated  in  all  the  Indian  nego- 
tiations for  many  years  of  that  age,  named  Con- 
rad Weiser,  whose  popularity  was  equally  great 
among  the  Indians  of  all  nations  by  whom  he  was 
known.  But  Weiser  was  unable  to  go.  Inflexi- 
ble in  his  purpose,  however,  the  count  determined 
to  encounter  the  hazards  of  the  journey,  with  no 
other  companions  than  a  missionary,  named  Mack, 
and  his  wife.  On  their  arrival  in  the  valley,  they 
pitched  their  tents  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  a  short 
distance  below  the  town  of  the  Shawanese  ;  at  that 
period  the  most  distrustful  and  savage  of  the  Penn- 


100  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

sylvan ia  Indians.  A  council  was  called  to  hear 
their  errand  of  mercy,  but  the  Indians  were  not 
exactly  satisfied  as  to  the  real  object  of  such  an 
unexpected  visit.  They  knew  the  rapacity  of  the 
white  people  for  their  lands  ;  and  they  thought  it 
far  more  probable  that  the  strangers  were  bent 
upon  surveying  the  quality  of  these,  than  that  they 
were  encountering  so  many  hardships  and  dangers, 
without  fee  or  reward,  merely  for  the  future  well 
being  of  their  souls.  Brooding  darkly  upon  the 
subject,  their  suspicions  increased,  until  they  re- 
solved upon  the  assassination  of  the  count ;  for 
which  purpose  executioners  were  detailed,  who 
were  instructed  to  carry  their  purpose  into  effect 
with  all  possible  secrecy,  lest  the  transaction,  com- 
ing to  the  ears  of  the  English,  should  involve  them 
in  a  yet  graver  difficulty. 

The  count  was  alone  in  his  tent,  reclining  upon 
a  bundle  of  dry  weeds,  designed  for  his  bed,  and 
engaged  in  writing,  or  in  devout  meditation,  when 
the  assassins  crept  stealthily  to  the  tetit  upon  their 
murderous  errand.  A  blanket-curtain,  suspended 
upon  pins,  formed  the  door  of  his  tent,  and  by 
gently  raising  a  corner  of  the  curtain,  the  Indians, 
undiscovered,  had  a  full  view  of  the  venerable 
patriarch,  unconscious  of  lurking  danger,  and  with 
the  calmness  of  a  saint  upon  his  benignant  features. 
They  were  awe-stricken  by  his  appearance.  But 
this  was  not  all.     It  was  a  cool  night  in  Septem- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  101 

ber  and  the  count  had  kindled  a  small  fire  for  his 
comfort.  Warmed  by  the  flame,  a  large  rattle- 
snake had  crept  from  its  covert,  and  approaching 
the  fire  for  its  greater  enjoyment,  glided  harm- 
lessly over  one  of  the  legs  of  the  holy  man,  whose 
thoughts,  at  the  moment,  were  not  occupied  upon 
the  grovelling  things  of  earth.  He  perceived  not 
the  serpent,  but  the  Indians,  with  breathless  atten- 
tion, had  observed  the  whole  movement  of  the  poi- 
sonous reptile  ;  and  as  they  gazed  upon  the  aspect 
and  attitude  of  the  count,  and  saw  the  serpent  of- 
fering him  no  harm,  they  changed  their  minds  as 
suddenly  as  the  barbarians  of  Malta  did  theirs  in 
regard  to  the  shipwrecked  prisoner  who  shook  the 
viper  from  his  hand  without  feehng  even  a  smart 
from  its  venomous  fang.  Their  enmity  was  im- 
mediately changed  into  reverence  ;  and  in  the  be- 
lief that  their  intended  victim  enjoyed  the  special 
protection  of  the  Great  Spirit,  they  desisted  from 
their  bloody  purpose  and  retired.*  Thenceforward 
the  count  was  regarded  by  the  Indians  with  the 
most  profound  veneration.  The  arrival  of  Conrad 
Weiser  soon  afterward  afforded:  every  facility  for 
free  communication  with  the   sons  of  the  forest, 

*  This  interesting  incident  was  not  published  in  the  count's  memoirs, 
lest,  as  he  states,  the  world  should  think  that  the  conversions  that  fol- 
lowed among  the  Indians  were  attributable  to  their  superstitions.  Mr. 
Chapman,  in  his  History  of  Wyoming,  has  preserved  the  story— having, 
as  he  says,  received  it  from  one  who  was  a  companion  of  the  count,  and 
who  accompanied  him,  [the  author]  to  Wyoming, 
11* 


102  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

and  the  count  remained  among  them  twenty  days. 
Some  time  afterward  several  of  the  Moravian 
brethren  visited  the  valley  and  formed  an  agreeable 
acquaintance  with  the  Indians,  especially  with  the 
chiefs  of  the  Nantikoke  tribe,  one  of  whom,  eighty- 
seven  years  old,  was  a  remarkably  intelligent  man.* 
The  result  was  the  establishment  of  a  regular  mis- 
sion post  there,  which  was  successfully  maintained 
for  several  years,  and  until  broken  up  by  troubles 
as  extraordinary  in  their  origin  as  they  were  fatal 
J;o  the  Indians  engaged  in  them. 

The  treaty  of  Aix-la  Chapelle,  which  in  1748 
put  an  end  to  the  French  war  in  Europe,  proved 
to  be  only  a  truce  between  France  and  Great 
Britain  ;  and  from  the  movements  of  the  former, 
it  required  no  remarkable  degree  of  sagacity  to 
foresee  that  the  sword  would  soon  be  drawn  again, 
and  the  contest  chiefly  waged,  and  perhaps  de- 
cided, in  the  wild  woods  of  America.  It  was 
even  so.  The  storm  broke  forth  upon  the  banks 
of  the  Ohio  in  17.^^4,  and  was  ended  on  those  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  in  1763.  Preparatory  to  this 
contest,  the  arts  of  the  French,  and  their  Jesuit 
missionaries,  were  all  put  in  requisition  to  secure 
the  friendship  and  alliance  of  the  Indians.  The 
influence  of  the  Jesuits,  among  the  Indians  of  the 
Ohio  and  upper  lakes,  was  unbounded  :  and  the 

*  Loskiel. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  103 

Shawanese  of  the  Ohio,  always  haters  of  the  Eng- 
hsh,  were  easily  persuaded  to  take  up  the  hatchet 
at  the  first  sound  of  the  bugle.  In  anticipation  of 
hostilities,  they  early  invited  their  brethren,  settled 
in  the  valley  of  Wyoming,  to  join  them.  These 
latter  were  little  better  disposed  towards  the  Eng- 
lish than  their  brethren  deeper  in  the  woods  ;  and 
but  for  the  new  ties  that  bound  the  Moravian  con- 
verts to  their  church,  the  invitation  would  have 
been  promptly  accepted. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  an  incident  oc- 
curred, which  not  only  sundered  their  Christian 
relations,  but  facilitated  the  removal  of  all  who 
were  able  to  get  away.  This  incident  was  a 
sudden  out-break  of  hostilities  between  this  seclu- 
ded clan  of  the  Shawanese,  and  their  Delaware 
neighbors  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  the  im- 
mediate cause  of  which  was  the  most  trivial  that 
can  be  imagined ;  in  this  respect  without  its  paral- 
lel in  history,  unless  such  parallel  is  to  be  found 
in  the  celebrated  controversy  between  the  virulent 
factions  of  the  Prasini  and  the  Veniti,  in  Italy, 
which  began  by  a  distinction  of  colors  in  ribands.* 
Its  consequences,  too,  were  the  most  bloody,  for 
the  numbers  engaged,  of  any  war,  probably,  that 
was  ever  waged.  It  happened  thus  : — On  a  cer- 
tain day,  the  warriors  of  both  clans  being  engaged 

*  Vide  Dean  Swift's  "  Argument  against  abolishing  C'lirislianily." 


104  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

in  the  chase  upon  the  mountains,  a  party  of  the 
Shawanese  women  and  children  crossed    to  the 
Delaware  side  to  gather  wild  fruit.     In  this  occu- 
pation they  were  joined  by  some  of  the  Delaware 
squaws,  with  their  children.     In  the  course  of  the 
day,  the  harmony  of  the  children  was  interrupted 
by  a  dispute   respecting  the   possession  of  a  large 
grasshopper,    probably   with  parti-colored  wings.^ 
A  quarrel  ensued,  in  which  the  mothers  took  part 
with  their  children  respectively.      The  Delaware 
women  being  the  most  numerous,  the  Shawanese 
were  driven  home,   several  being  killed  upon  both 
sides.     On  the  return  of  their  husbands  from  hunt- 
ing, the  Shawanese  instantly  espoused  the  cause  of 
their   wives,  and  arming  themselves,   crossed  the 
river  to  give  the   Delawares  battle.      The   latter 
were  not  unprepared,   and  a  battle  ensued,  which 
was  long  and  obstinately  contested,  and  which,  af- 
ter great  slaughter  upon   both  sides,  ended  in   the 
defeat  of  the  Shawanese,  and  their  expulsion  from 
the  valley.     They  retired  among  their  more  pow- 
erful brethren   on  the  Ohio,  by   whom,  as  already 
mentioned,  they  had  been  invited  to  remove  thith- 
er, with  them  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  French. 
This  exploit  of  the  Delawares,  becoming  noised 
abroad,  went  far  to  relieve  them  of  the  reproach 
under  which  they  had  so  long  been  lying,  of  be- 
ing "  WOMEN."*      They  were  now  the  principal 

*  According  to  Loskiel,  a  treaty  was  negotiated  between  the  Iroquois 


/ 
HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  105 

occupants  of  the  valley — entirely  so,  indeed,  with 
the  exception  of  the  small  community  of  Nati- 
cokes  who  were  settled  at  its  lower  extremity — 
and  their  numbers  were  rapidly  increased  by  those 
of  their  own  people  who  were  retreating  before 
the  onward  march  of  civilization  in  the  Minisink 
country  of  the  Delaware.  Among  these  acces- 
sions to  their  community  were  many  from  the  vi- 
cinity of  Friedhenshal,  Bethlehem,  Guadhenthal, 
Nazareth,  Nain,  and  Gnadenhutten,*  the  Mora- 
vian settlements  in  the  region  of  the  junction,  or 
Forks,  of  the  Delaware  and  Lehigh.  Some  of 
them  were  converts  to  the  Moravian  church  ;  and 
a  constant  intercourse  was  thereafter  maintained 
by  way  of  what  is  to  this  day  known  as  the  "  In- 
dian Walk  "  across  the  mountains,  between  the  In- 
dians living  at  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Gnadenhut- 
ten,  and  those  of  Wyoming.  As  the  storm  of  war 
with  the  French  drew  near,  the  Indians  in  their  in- 
terest began  to  hover  upon  the  borders  of  the  white 
settlements,  and  particularly  upon  those  of  the 
Delaware  tribes,  which  yet  adhered  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  English.     The  Delaware  chief  at  Wy- 

and  the  Delavvares  in  1755,  when  the  former  were  soliciting  the  assistance 
of  the  latter,  by  which  the  woman's  dress  of  the  Delaware  nation  was 
shortened  so  as  to  reach  only  to  their  knees,  and  a  hatchet  was  given  into 
their  hands  by  way  of  defence. 

*  "  Huts  of  Mercy,"  a  settlement  founded  by  the  Moravians  chiefly  for 
the  accommodation  and  protection  of  those  Indiana  who  embraced  their 


106  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

oming  was  Tadame,  of  whom,  at  this  day,  but  Ut- 
ile is  known.  He  was  however  treacherously  mur- 
dered by  some  of  the  hostile  Indians  from  the 
northwest;  whereupon  a  general  council  of  the 
Delawares  was  convened,  and  Teedyuscung,  of 
whom  mention  has  already  been  made,  was  cho- 
sen chief  sachem,  and  duly  proclaimed  as  such. 
He  was  residing  at  Gnadenhutten  at  the  time  of 
his  advancement,  but  immediately  removed  to  Wy- 
oming, which  then  became  the  principal  seat  of  the 
Delawares.  Not  long  afterward  a  small  fort  upon 
the  Lehigh,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Gnadenhut- 
ten, was  surprised  by  a  party  of  Indians,  and  white 
men  disguised  as  such,  its  little  garrison  massacred, 
the  town  of  Gnadenhutten  sacked  and  burnt, — 
many  of  its  inhabitants,  chiefly  Christian  Indians, 
being  slain.  Numbers  of  them  perished  in  the 
flames,  while  the  survivors  escaped  and  joined  their 
brethren  at  Wyoming.* 

It  was  not  long  after  the  actual  commencement 
of  hostilities  between  the  English  colonists  and  the 
French  troops,    and  their  Indian  allies  upon  the 


*  Chapman.  It  was  at  about  this  period  of  time,  according  to  the 
author,  that  the  Nanticokes,  never  particularly  friendly  to  the  English,  re- 
moved from  Wyoming  farther  up  the  river  to  a  place  called  Chemunk 
[Chemung?]  After  this  removal,  hearing  that  the  graves  of  their  fath- 
ers, on  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland,  were  about  being  invaded  by  the 
plough-shares  of  the  pale-faces,  they  sent  a  deputation  back  to  their  na- 
tive land,  who  disinterred  the  remains  of  their  dead,  and  conveyed  them 
to  their  new  place  of  residence,  where  they  were  again  buried  with  all 
(he  rites  and  ceremonies  of  savage  sepulture.  This  is  a  beautiful  instance 
of  filial  piety,  deserving  of  remembrance. 


HISTORY     OF     WYOMING  107 

banks  of  the  Ohio,  before  Shamokin  was  attacked 
by  the  Indians,  and  the  white  settlement  destroy- 
ed. Fourteen  whites  were  killed,  several  made 
prisoners,  and  the  houses  and  farms  plundered. 
The  Delawares  now  began  to  waver  under  the 
smarting  of  ancient  grievances,  and  the  artful  ap- 
pliances and  appeals  of  the  French  ;  and  with  the 
fall  of  General  Braddock  and  the  destruction  of 
his  army,  they  revolted  in  a  body,  and  went  over 
to  the  common  enemy.  They  were  immediately 
induced  to  change  their  relations,  by  the  strong 
assurances  of  the  French  that  the  war  was  in  fact 
undertaken  in  their  behalf,  for  the  purpose  of  driv- 
ing away  the  English,  and  restoring  the  red  man 
once  more  to  the  full  and  entire  possession  of  the 
country  of  which  he  had  been  robbed.* 

A  sanguinary  war,  upon  the  borders  both  of 
Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  immediately  followed 
the  secession  of  the  Delawares,  and  if  they  were 
''  women,"  in  the  popular  Indian  acceptation,  be- 
fore, they  wielded  no  feminine  arms  in  the  new 
attitude  they  had  so  suddenly  assumed.  Their 
blows  fell  thick  and  fast ;  their  hatchets  were  red  ; 
and  their  devastations  of  the  frontier  settlements 
were  frequent  and  cruel.  ^  Governor  Morris  wrote 
to  General  Shirley  on  the  3d  of  December,  1755, 

*  Chapman.  See,  also,  an  interesting  journal  of  Christian  Frederick 
Post,  while  on  a  pacific  mission  to  the  Delawares  and  Shawanese,  which 
has  been  preserved  in  the  appendix  to  Proud. 


lOS  HISTORY    or    WYOMING. 

— "  to  our  great  surprise  the  Dela wares  and  Shaw- 
anese  have  taken  up  the  hatchet  against  us,  and 
with  uncommon  rage  and  fury  carried  on  a  most 
barbarous  and  cruel  war,  burning  and  destroying 
all  before  them,  and  in  a  short  space  of  time  have 
been  able  to  lay  waste  a  considerable  tract  of  coun- 
try, extending  a  vast  length  from  beyond  the  Ap- 
alaccian  Hills  in  Virginia,  to  the  river  Delaware, 
and  it  may  be  expected  that  they  will  next  fall 
on  Jersey,  and  perhaps  New-York,  as  they  follow 
the  chain  of  mountains  that  we  call  the  Blue  Hills, 
which  take  their  rise  in  New-England."*  The 
storm  was  as  fearful  as  it  was  unexpected  to  the 
Pennsylvanians ;  for  however  much  familiarized 
Virginia  and  most  of  the  other  colonies  had  be- 
come to  savage  warfare,  Pennsylvania,  until  now, 
had  been  comparatively  and  happily  exempt.  For 
more  than  seventy  years  a  strict  amity  had  existed 
between  the  early  English  settlers  and  their  suc- 
cessors in  Pennsylvania  and  New-Jersey ,f  and  the 
breaking  forth  of  the  war  created  the  greater  con- 
sternation on  that  account. 

It  appears  that  the  Quakers, — a  people,  by  the 
way,  who  have  at  all  times  manifested  a  deep  so- 
licitude for  the  welfare  of  the  Indians,  and  whose 
benevolent  principles  and  gentle  manners  have, 

*MS.  letter  from  Robert  II.  Morris,  Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  to  Gen- 
eral Shirley, 
t  Proud. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  109 

in  all  critical  emergencies,  more  than  any  thing 
else,  won  the  red  man's  confidence, — had  previ- 
ously discovered  some  uneasiness  among  the  Indi- 
ans, connected  with  certain  land  questions,  in  re- 
spect of  which  they  were  not  quite  clear  that 
injustice  had  not  been  done  their  red  brethren  of 
the  forest.  While,  therefore,  the  government  w^as 
making  such  preparations  as  it  could  for  the  com- 
mon defence,  great  and  persevering  efforts  were 
made,  under  the  urgent  advisement  of  the  Qua- 
kers, to  win  back  the  friendship  of  the  Delawares, 
as  also  that  of  the  Shawanese.  It  was  the  opin- 
ion of  these  good  people,  as  just  intimated,  that 
in  their  revolt  the  Delawares  had  been  moved  by 
wrongs,  either  real  or  fancied, — and  if  the  latter, 
not  the  less  wrongs  to  their  clouded  apprehensions, 
— in  regard  to  some  of  their  lands.  A  pacific 
mission  to  the  Delawares  and  Shawanese  was 
therefore  recommended  and  strongly  urged  by 
them,  and  the  project  was  acceded  to  by  Governor 
Morris ;  but  he  refused  to  set  the  mission  on  foot 
until  after  he  had  issued  a  formal  declaration  of 
war.*  The  Quakers  were  strongly  opposed  to 
this  measure,  and  so  was  Sir  William  Johnson, 
who  judged  that  pacific  relations  might  be  more 
easily   restored    without    resorting   to   a   declar- 

*  Memorial  of  the  Quakers  to  Governor  Denny,  who  had  succeeded  Mr. 
Morris  in  the  government  of  the  Proprietaries  in  1756*  See  Proud,  vol.ii. 
Appendix. 

12 


110  HISTORY    OF    AVYOMING. 

ation,  than  afterward,  and  privately  remonstrated 
against  it.*  Difficulties  meantime  increased,  and 
the  ravages  of  the  frontiers  were  continued,  until 
the  war-path  flowed  with  blood.  Governor  Mor- 
ris, in  a  letter  to  Sir  William  Johnson  justifying 
his  declaration,  said : — "  You  cannot  conceive  what 
havoc  has  been  made  by  the  enemy  in  this  defence- 
less province,  nor  what  number  of  murders  they 
have  committed,  what  a  vast  tract  of  territory  they 
have  laid  waste,  and  what  a  multitude  of  inhabit- 
ants, of  all  ages  and  both  sexes,  they  have  carried 
into  captivity.  By  information  of  several  of  the 
prisoners  who  have  made  their  escape  from  them, 
I  can  assure  you  that  there  are  not  less  than  three 
hundred  of  our  people  in  servitude  to  them  and 
the  French  on  the  Ohio.  At  first  they  appeared 
in  small  parties,  and  committed  their  outrages 
where  they  could  do  it  with  more  safety  to  them- 
selves. But  of  late  they  have  penetrated  into  the 
inhabited  part  of  the  country  in  larger  bodies,  and 
have  defeated  several  detachments  of  our  armed 
forces ;  carried  and  laid  waste  whole  counties,  and 
spread  great  terror  amongst  us."f 

The  influence  of  Sir  William  Johnson  and  of  the 
Six  Nations,  with  the  Delawares,  was  invoked  by 
the  Pennsylvanians,  and  several  of  the  Chiefs  of 
the  confederacy,  with  Colonel  Claus,  and  Andrew 

*  Johnson  MSS.  in  the  author's  possession. 
t  MS.  letter  among  the  Johnson  papers. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  Ill 

Montour,  Sir  William's  secretary  and  interpreter, 
visited  Philadelphia  upon  that  business.''^  The 
parent  government  likewise  urged  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Proprietaries  to  renew  their  Indian 
negotiations,  and  if  possible  arrive  at  a  better  un- 
derstanding with  them,  by  defining  exphcitly  the 
lands  that  had  been  actually  purchased.f 

These  pacific  dispositions  were  so  far  attended 
with  success  that  two  Indian  councils  were  held  at 
Easton,  in  the  Summer  and  Autumn  of  1756. 
The  first,  however,  was  so  small,  being  attended 
by  only  twenty-four  Indians,  that  no  business  was 
transacted  other  than  the  giving  and  receiving  of 
explanations,  and  the  adoption  of  such  arrange- 
ments as  it  was  hoped  would  lead  to  a  pacific  re- 
sult. The  chief  and  master-spirit  of  the  Indians 
was  Teedyuscung,  claiming  to  be  king  of  the  Del- 
awares,  and  being  acknowledged  by  them  as  such. 
He  was  the  bearer  of  a  belt  to  the  Delawares  from 
the  Six  Nations,  urging  them  to  lay  down  the 
hatchet,!  and  he  claimed  to  represent  ten  nations 
in  the  council.     From  the  information  elicited  at 

*  Memorial  of  the  duakeis,  already  cited.  f  Chapman. 

X  Strangely  enough  Loskiel  asserts,  repeatedly,  that  the  Delawares  and 
Shawanese  had  been  instigated  to  these  hostilities  against  the  English  by 
the  Six  Nations.  The  proof  is  conclusive, — rendered  more  conclusive  than 
ever  by  the  Johnson  manuscripts, — that  the  Six  Nations  did  all  in  their 
power  to  assist  them,  and  afterward  to  aid  in  the  restoration  of  peace.  But 
the  good  Moravians  always  looked  with  an  eye  of  strong  partiality  upon 
the  Delawares,  and  with  the  opposite  feeling  upon  the  Six  Nations.  I 
have  the  manuscript  journals  of  these  councils  before  me  at  large — and  they 
are  long  and  full. 


112  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

this  council,  it  appeared  that  Teedyuscung  had 
been  the  chief  agent  in  exciting  the  Delawares  and 
Shawanese  to  hostihties,  and  that  he  had  but  re- 
cently f  eturned  from  a  visit  to  the  French  garrison 
lit  Niagara,  at  which  place  he  had  been  treated 
with  marked  attention.  Still,  in  reference  to  the 
pacific  messages  by  which  he  had  been  invited  to 
the  council,  he  declared  "  that  they  had  touched 
his  heart,  and  given  him  abundance  of  joy."  The 
discussions  were  continued  several  days,  in  the 
most  amicable  spirit,  and  an  arrangement  was 
made  by  virtue  of  which  Teedyuscung  was  to  vis- 
it the  remote  hostile  Indians,  and  bring  them  in 
greater  numbers  to  attend  a  council  to  be  held  in 
the  approaching  Autumn.  He  w^as  not  as  suc- 
cessful in  his  efforts  to  induce  the  Indians  to  meet 
in  the  proposed  council,as  it  was  hoped  he  would  be, 
yet  it  took  place  in  November,  although  it  appears 
to  have  been  confined  to  the  Delawares  of  the  Sus- 
quehanna— those  of  that  nation  who  had  previous- 
ly emigrated  to  the  Ohio,  and  the  Shawanese,  not 
being  represented.  The  council  was  conducted 
by  Lieutenant  Governor  Denny  on  the  part  of  the 
colony,  and  by  Teedyuscung  on  behalf  of  the  In- 
dians ;  and  he  appears  to  have  managed  his  case 
with  the  energy  of  a  man  and  the  ability  of  a 
statesman.  If  his  people  had  cowered  like  cravens 
before  the  rebukes  of  the  Six  Nations,  in  the  coun- 
cil of  1742,  their  demeanor  was  far  otherwise  on 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  113 

this  occasion.*  Having,  by  joining  the  Shawanese 
and  the  French,  thrown  off  the  vassalage  of  the 
Six  Nations,  and  become  an  independent,  as  well 
as  a  belligerent  power,  they  now  met  the  pale  fa- 
ces, and  a  deputation  of  the  Six  Nations  who  were 
present,  with  the  port  and  bearing  of  men. 

On  being  requested  by  the  Governor  to  state  the 
causes  of  their  uneasiness  and  subsequent  hostili- 
ties, Teedyuscung  enumerated  several.  Among 
them  were  the  abuses  committed  upon  the  Indians 
in  the  prosecution  of  their  trade  ;  being  unjustly 
deprived  of  portions  of  their  lands  ;  and  in  the  ex- 
ecution, long  before,  in  New-Jersey,  of  a  Delaware 
chief,  named  Wekahelah,  for,  as  the  Indians  al- 
leged, accidentally  killing  a  white  man — a  trans- 
action which  they  said  they  could  not  forget.f 

*  At  this  council, 'I'eedyuscung  insisted  upon  having  a  secretary  of  his 
own  selection  appointed,  to  take  down  the  proceedings  in  behalf  of  the 
Indians.  The  demand  was  considered  extraordinary,  and  was  opposed 
by  Governor  Denny.  The  Delaware  chief,  however,  persisted  in  his  de- 
mand, and  it  was  finally  acceded  to.  Teedyuscung  therefore  appointed 
Charles  Thompson,  Master  of  the  Free  Quaker  School  in  Philadelphia,  as 
the  secretary  for  the  Indians.  This  was  the  same  Charles  Thompson  who 
was  afterwards  secretary  to  the  Old  Congress  of  the  revolution— who  was 
so  long  continued  in  that  station— and  who  died  in  the  year  1824,  aged  94 
years— full  of  years  and  honors.  The  Indians  adopted  him  and  gave  him 
a  name  signilying— "  The  Man  of  Truth." 

t  Weekweela,  Wekahela,  or  Weekquehela,  was  an  Indian  of  great  con- 
sideration, both  among  the  Christian  and  Pagan  Indians.  He  resided,  with 
his  clan,  upon  South  river,  near  Shrewsbury,  in  East  Jersey,  and  lived 
in  a  style  corresponding  with  that  of  affluent  white  men.  He  had  a  large 
farm,  which  was  well  cultivated  and  stocked  with  cattle  and  horses  :  his 
house  was  large,  and  furnished  after  the  English  manner,  with  chairs, 
feather  beds,  curtains,  &c.,  &c.  He  had  also  servants,  and  was  the  own- 
er of  slaves.    lie  likewise  mingled  with  good  society,  and  was  the  guest 

12* 


114  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

When  the  Governor  desired  specifications  of  the 
alleged  wrongs  in  regard  to  their  lands,  Teedyus- 
cung  replied  :  "  The  Kings  of  England  and  France 
have  settled  or  wrought  this  land  so  as  to  coop  us 
up  as  if  in  a  pen." — "  I  have  not  far  to  go  for  an- 
other instance.  This  very  ground  that  is  under 
me,  (striking  it  with  his  foot,)  was  my  land  and 
inheritance;  and  is  taken  from  me  by  fraud. 
When  I  say  this  ground,  I  mean  all  the  land  ly- 
ing between  Tohiccon  Creek  and  Wyoming,  on 
the  river  Susquehanna.  I  have  not  only  been 
served  so  in  this  government,  but  the  s€ime  thing 
has  been  done  to  me  as  to  several  tracts  in  New- 
Jersey,  over  the  river."  When  asked  what  he 
meant  hy  fraud,  Teedyuscung  replied: — ''When 
one  man  had  formerly  liberty  to  purchase  land, 
and  he  took  the  deeds  from  the  Indians,  and  then 
dies,  and  after  his  death  his  children  forge  a  deed 
like  the  true  one,  with  the  same  Indian  names  to 
it,  and  thereby  take  lands  from  the  Indians  which 

of  governors  and  other  distinguished  men.  Unfortunately,  about  the  year 
1728,  Cai)tain  Jolin  Leonard  purchased  a  cedar  swamp  of  some  other  Indi- 
ans, which  Wecltquchela  claimed  as  belonging  to  him.  Leonard  disre- 
garded his  claim,  and  persisted  in  occupying  the  land.  A  quarrel  ensued, 
and  Weekqiiehela  shot  him  dead  as  a  trespasser — not,  however,  upon  the 
disputed  territory,  but  while  he  was  walking  one  day  in  his  jjarden.  The 
chief  was  arrested  by  the  civil  authorities,  and  tried  and  executed  for  mur- 
der at  Amboy.  Such  is  substantially  the  story  as  related  in  Smith's  Hia- 
lory  of  New-Jersey.  The  Indians  claimed  that  Weekquchela's  gun  went 
off  by  accident;  and  the  Six  Nations,  in  a  speech  delivered  nl  Lancaster 
in  the  year  1757,  not  only  affirmed  thin,  but  maintained  tbnt  the*  Indian 
went  himself  and  with  great  grief  communicated  the  circuni-lance  to  the 
widow— surrendering  himself  up  voluntarily  to  the  civil  authorities. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  115 

they  never  sold,  this  is  fraud."  "  Also,  when  one 
chief  has  land  beyond  the  river,  and  another  chief 
has  land  on  this  side,  both  bounded  by  rivers, 
mountains,  and  springs,  which  cannot  be  moved, 
and  the  Proprietaries,  ready  to  purchase  lands,  buy 
of  one  chief  what  belongs  to  another.  This  like- 
wise is  fraud."  "  When  I  had  agreed  to  sell  cer- 
tain lands  to  the  old  proprietor  by  the  course  of 
the  river,  the  young  proprietors  came  and  got  it 
run  by  a  straight  course  by  the  compass,  and  by 
that  means  took  in  double  the  quantity  intended 
to  be  sold."  This  he  thought  was  fraud.  He 
said  the  Delawares  had  never  been  satisfied  with 
the  conduct  of  the  latter  since  the  treaties  of  1737, 
when  their  fathers  sold  them  the  lands  on  the  Del- 
aware. He  said  that  although  the  land  sold  was 
to  have  gone  only  "  as  far  as  a  man  could  go  in  a 
day  and  a  half  from  Nashamony  Creelc,'^  yet  the 
person  who  measured  the  ground  did  not  walk, 
but  ran.  He  was,  moreover,  as  they  supposed,  to 
follow  the  winding  bank  of  the  river,  whereas  he 
went  in  a  straight  line.  And  because  the  Indians 
had  been  unwilling  to  give  up  the  land  as  far  as 
the  walk  extended,  the  Governor  then  having  the 
command  of  the  English  sent  for  their  cousins  the 
Six  Nations,  who  had  always  been  hard  masters 
to  them,  to  come  down  and  drive  them  from  their 
land.  AVhen  the  Six  Nations  came  down,  the 
Delawares  met  them  at  a  great  treaty  held  at  the 


116  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

Governor's  house  in  Philadelphia,  for  the  purpose 
of  explaining  why  they  did  not  give  up  the  land ; 
but  the  English  made  so  many  presents  to  the  Six 
Nations,  that  their  ears  were  stopped.  They  would 
listen  to  no  explanation ;  and  Canassateego  had 
moreover  abused  them,  and  called  them  women. 
The  Six  Nations  had,  however,  given  to  them  and 
the  Shawanese,  the  lands  upon  the  Susquehanna 
and  the  Juniata  for  hunting  grounds,  and  had  so 
informed  the  Governor  ;  but  notwithstanding  this, , 
the  whites  were  allowed  to  go  and  settle  upon 
those  lands.*  Two  years  ago,  moreover,  the  Gov- 
ernor had  been  to  Albany  to  buy  some  land  of  the 
Six  Nations,  and  had  described  their  purchase  by 
points  of  corn-pass,  which  the  Indians  did  not  un- 
derstand, including  lands  both  upon  the  Juniata 
and  the  Susquehanna,  which  they  did  not  intend 
to  sell.  When  all  these  things  were  known  to  the 
Indians,  they  declared  they  would  no  longer  be 
friends  to  the  English,  who  were  trying  to  get  all 
their  country  away  from  them.     He  however  as- 

*  In  a  speech  deli  vrrcd  by  one  of  tlie  cinefs  of  I  he  Six  Nations,  at  a  coun- 
cil held  with  them  at  Lancaster,  in  1757,  tliis  last  assertion  of  Teedyus- 
cung  was  confirmed,  as  follows :— "  Brothers  :  You  desired  us  to  open  our 
hearts,  and  inform  you  of  every  thing  wo  know,  that  might  give  rise  to  the 
quarrel  between  you  and  our  nephews  and  brothers :— Thai,  in  former 
times  our  forefathers  conquered  the  Vclaicarcs,  and  put  petticonts  on  them  ; 
a  long  time  after  that  they  lived  among  you,  our  brothers  ;  but  upon  some 
difference  between  you  and  them,  we  thought  proper  to  remove  them, 
giving  them  lands  to  plant  and  to  hunt  on,  at  Wijominff  and  Juniata,  on  the 
Susqjtehanna  ;  but  you,  covetous  of  land,  made  plantations  there,  and  spoil- 
ed their  hunting  grounds;  they  then  complained  to  us,  and  we  looked 
over  those  lands,  and  found  their  complaints  to  be  true.»» 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING,  117 

sured  the  council  that  they  were  nevertheless  glad 
to  meet  their  old  friends  the  English  again,  and 
to  smoke  the  pipe  of  peace  with  them.  He  also 
hoped  that  justice  would  be  done  to  them  for  all 
the  injuries  they  had  received."^ 

The  council  continued  nine  days,  and  Governor 
Denny  appears  to  have  conducted  himself  with  so 
much  tact  and  judgment,  as  greatly  to  conciliate 
the  good  will  of  the  Indians.  By  his  candid  and 
ingenuous  treatment  of  them,  as  some  of  the 
Mohawks  afterward  expressed  it,  ''  he  put  his 
hand  into  Teedyuscung's  bosom,  and  was  so  suc- 
cessful as  to  draw  out  the  secret,  which  neither 
Sir  William  Johnson  nor  the  Six  Nations  could 
do."f  The  result  was  a  reconciliation  of  the  Del- 
awares  of  the  Susquehanna  with  the  English,  and 
a  treaty  of  peace,  upon  the  basis  that  Teedyuscung 
and  his  people  were  to  be  allowed  to  remain  upon 
the  Wyoming  lands,  and  that  houses  were  to  be 
built  for  them  by  the  Proprietaries.."]:  There  were, 
however,  several  matters  left  unadjusted,  although 
the  Governor  desired  that  every  difficulty  should 
then  be  discussed,  and  every  cause  of  complaint, 

*  In  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  I  was  indebted  to  Proud  for  an  outline 
of  this  speech  of  the  Delaware  King ;  but  I  have  since  discovered  a  man- 
uscript journal  of  the  entire  proceedings  of  this  council  among  the  manu- 
scripts of  Sir  William  Johnson.  Chapman  was  in  error  in  supposing  it 
to  have  been  a  general  council,  and  that  the  Ohio  Indians  were  included 
in  the  peace. 

t  Memorial  of  the  Q,uakers  to  Governor  Denny. 

X  Journal  of  Christian  Frederick  Post — note  by  Proud. 


113  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

as  far  as  he  possessed  the  power,  be  removed.  But 
Teedyuscung  rephed  that  he  was  not  empowered, 
at  the  present  time,  to  negotiate  upon  several  of 
the  questions  of  grievance   that  had  been   raised, 
nor  were  all  the  parties  interested  properly  repre- 
sented in  the  council.     He  therefore  proposed  the 
holding  of  another  council  in  the  following  spring, 
at  Lancaster.       This  propositon   was  acceded  to  ; 
and  many  Indians  collected  at  the  time  and  place 
appointed.     Sir   William   Johnson  despatched   a 
deputation  of  the  Six  Nations  thither,  under  the 
charge  of  Colonel  Croghan,  the  Deputy   Superin- 
tendent of  the  Indians  ;    but   for  some  reason  un- 
explained, neither    Teedyuscung   nor    the    Dela- 
wares    from    Wyoming    attended    the    council, 
though  of  his  own  appointment.     Col.    Croghan 
wrote  to  Sir  William,  however,  that  the  meeting 
was  productive  of  great  good  in  checking  the  war 
upon  the  frontier  ;    and  in  a  speech  to    Sir  Wil- 
liam, delivered  by  the  Senecas  in  June  following, 
they  claimed  the  credit,  by  their  mediation,  of  the 
partial  peace  that  had  been  obtained.     Tlie  con- 
duct of  Teedyuscung   on  that  occasion    was  se- 
verely censured  by   Sir  William,  in  a  speech  to 
the  Onondagas,  Cayugas,  and  Senecas ;   and  the 
latter  were   charged   by   the   baronet  to  take  the 
subject  in  hand,  and    "  talk  to  him,"    and  should 
they  find  him  in  fault,  "make  him  sensible  of  it.''* 

*  Manuscripts  of  Sir  William  Johnson  in  tbe  author's  possesskuu 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  119 

But  the  Delawares  and  the  Shawanese  of  the 
Alleghany  and  Ohio  were  yet  upon  the*  war-path, 
and  although  the  horrors   of  the   border   warfare 
weres  omewhat  mitigated  by  the  peace  with  Teed- 
yuscung,  they  were  by  no  means  at  an  end.     More 
especially  were   the  frontiers  of  Virginia  exposed 
to  the  invasions  of  the  Shawanese.     Efforts  for  a 
more  general  pacification  were  therefore  continued, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Quakers.     Indeed  these 
people,  in  whatever  related  to  Indian  affairs,  form- 
ed  almost  an    independent  branch  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania government.     They  enjoyed  more  of  the 
confidence  of  the  Indians  than  the  officers  of  the 
government  did  ;  especially  of  Teedyuscung  ;  and 
in  their  great  solicitude  to  protect  the  red  man's 
interests,  they    not   unfrequently  embarrassed  the 
designs  and  proceedings  of  the  governor.*     But 
the  French  were  strongly  posted  at  Venango  and 
Fort   Du  Quesne  ;    and  they  were  assiduous  and 
plausible  in  cultivating  the  friendship  of  the   Indi- 
ans, and  lavish  in  their  presents.      It  was  conse- 
quently a  difficult  matter  to  obtain  access  to  the 
Indian  towns  thickly   studding  the  more   western 
rivers,  or  to  induce  the  tribes  to  open  their  ears  to 
any  body  but  the  French. 

A  most  fitting  and  worthy  agent  to  bear  a  mes- 
sage of  peace  to  those    Indians,  was,    however, 

*  MS.  letters  of  Governor  Denny  to  Sir  William  Johnson. 


120  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

found  in  the   person  of  Christian  Frederick  Post. 
He  was  a  plain,  honest  German,  of  the  Moravian 
sect,  who  had  resided  seventeen   years  with   the 
Indians,  a  part  of  which  period   had  been  passed 
in  the  valley  of  Wyoming,  and  he  had  twice  mar- 
ried  among   them.     He   was    therefore  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  Indian  character,  and  was  inti- 
mately known  to  many,  both  Shawanese  and  De- 
lawares,  who  had  also  resided  at  Wyoming.     The 
service   required   of  him   was  alike   severe    and 
arduous.     A  dreary  wilderness  was  to  be  traversed, 
ravines  threaded  and  mountains  scaled  ;  and  when 
these  obstacles  were  surmounted,  even  if  he  did 
not  meet  with  a  stealthy  enemy  before,  with  his 
life  in  his  hand  he  was  to  throw  himself  into  the 
heart  of  an  enemy's  country — and  that  enemy  as 
treacherous  and  cruel,  when  in  a  state  of  exasper- 
ation, as  ever  civilized  man  has  been  doomed  to 
encounter.     But  Christian  Frederick  Post  entered 
upon  the  perilous  mission  with  the  courage  and 
spirit  of  a  Christian.      Accompanied  by  two  or 
three  Indian  guides,   he  crossed  the  rivers  and 
mountains  twice  in  the  summer  and  autumn  of 
1758,  visited  many  of  the  Indian  towns,  passed 
and  repassed  the  French  fort  at  Venango,  and  held 
a  council  with  the  Indians  almost  under  the  guns 
of  Fort  Du  Quesne,  where  was  a  garrison,  at  that 
time,  of  about  ten  thousand  men.     Far  the  greater 
part  of  the  Indians  received  him  with  friendshi]), 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  121 

and  his  message  of  peace  with  gladness.  They 
had  such  perfect  confidence  in  his  integrity  and 
truth,  that  every  effort  of  the  French  to  circum- 
vent him  was  unavaihng.  They  kept  a  captain 
and  more  than  fifteen  soldiers  hanging  about  him 
for  several  days,  watching  his  every  movement, 
and  listening  to  all  that  was  said  ;  and  various 
schemes  were  devised  at  first  to  make  him  pris- 
oner and  ultimately  to  take  his  life  ;  but  although 
one  of  his  own  guides  had  a  "  forked  tongue," 
and  was  seduced  from  him  at  fort  Du  Quesne,  yet 
the  Indians  upon  whom  he  had  thrown  himself, 
with  so  much  confidence  and  moral  courage, 
interposed  for  his  counsel  and  protection  in  every 
case  of  danger,  and  would  not  allow  a  hair  of  his 
head  to  be  injured.  He  was  charged  with  messa- 
ges both  from  Teedyuscung  and  Governor  Denny. 
To  the  former  they  would  not  listen  for  a  mo- 
ment. Indeed  that  chieftain  seemed  to  be  the  ob- 
ject of  their  strong  dislike,  if  not  of  their  positive 
hate.  They  would  therefore  recognize  nothing 
that  he  had  done  at  Easton  ;  but  they  received 
the  message  of  the  Governor  with  the  best  possible 
feeling.  It  was  evident  from  all  their  conversa- 
tions with  Christian  Post,  whose  Journal  is  as  art- 
less as  it  is  interesting,  that  they  had  been  deceived 
by  the  representations  of  the  French,  and  deluded 
into  a  behef  that,  while  it  was  the  intention  of  the 
English  to  plunder  them  of  all  their  lands,  the 
13 


122  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

French  were  themselves  actuated  solely  by  the 
benevolent  motive  of  driving  the  English  back 
across  the  water,  and  restoring  the  Indians  to  all 
the  possessions  which  the  Great  Spirit  had  given 
them.*  Convinced  by  Post  of  the  fraud  that  had 
been  practised  upon  their  understandings,  their 
yearnings  for  peace  gathered  intensity  every  day. 
Several  times,  during  his  conversations  with  the 
chiefs  of  different  towns,  as  he  undeceived  them 
in  regard  to  the  real  designs  of  the  French,  their 
minds  seemed  filled  with  melancholy  perplexity. 
A  conviction  of  what  was  not  wide  of  the  truth 
flashed  upon  them,  and  once  at  least,  the  apprehen- 
sion was  uttered  that  it  was  but  a  struggle  between 
the  Enghsh  and  French,  which  should  possess 
their  whole  country,  after  the  Indians  had  been 
exterminated  between  them.  "  Why  do  not  the 
great  kings  of  England  and  France,"  they  inquir- 
ed, "  do  their  fighting  in  their  own  country,  and 


•  In  the  course  of  the  speech  by  one  of  the  Six  Nations,  delivered  at 
the  Council  at  Lancaster  in  1757,  cited  in  a  preceding  note,  it  was  said  in 
reference  to  the  influence  which  the  French  had  acquired  over  the  Dela- 
wares  and  Shawanese :  "  At  this  time  our  cousins  the  Delawarcs  carried 
on  a  correspon  dence  with  the  French;  by  which  means  the  French  became 
acquainted  with  all  the  causes  of  complaint  they  had  against  you  ;  and  as 
your  people  were  daily  incroaching  their  settlements,  by  these  means  you 
drove  them  back  into  tlie  arms  of  the  French  ;  and  they  took  the  advantage 
of  spritlng  them  up  against  you,  by  telling  them,  '  Children,  you  sec,  and 
we  have  often  told  you,  how  the  EngUsh^your  brothers,  would  serve  you. 
they  plant  all  the  country-,  and  drive  you  back ;  so  that  in  a  little  time,  yoii 
will  have  no  land  ;  it  is  not  so  with  us  ;  though  we  build  trading-houses 
on  your  land,  wc  do  not  plant  it,  we  have  our  provisions  from  over  the 
great  water.'  " 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  123 

not  come  over  the  great  waters  to  fight  on  our 
hunting  grounds?"  The  question  was  too  deep 
for  honest.  Christian  Frederick  Post  to  answer. 
However,  the  inchnation  of  the  Indians  was  deci- 
dedly toward  the  Enghsh,  and  the  result  of  his 
second  embassy,  in  the  autumn  of  175S,  after  en- 
countering fresh  difficulties  and  dangers,  was  a 
reconciliation  with  the  Indians  of  the  Ohio  coun- 
try, in  consequence  of  which  the  French  were 
obliged  to  abandon  the  whole  of  that  territory  to 
General  Forbes,  after  destroying  with  their  own 
hands  the  strong  fortress  of  Du  Quesne. 

Great,  however,  as  was  the  influence  of  Chris- 
tian Frederick  Post  with  the  western  Delawares 
and  Shawanese,  he  is  by  no  means  entitled  to  the 
entire  credit  of  bringing  about  a  peace.  The  ef- 
forts of  Sir  William  Johnson  were  incessantly  di- 
rected to  the  same  end,  and  were  not  without 
their  effect.  The  fact  was,  the  French  were  omit- 
ting no  exertions  to  win  the  Six  Nations  from  their 
alliance  with  the  English.  In  this  design  they 
were  partially  successful,  and  the  British  Indian 
Superintendent,  great  as  was  his  influence  with 
the  red  men,  had  his  hands  full  to  prevent  the 
mass  of  the  Six  Nations  from  deserting  him,  du- 
ring the  years  1756  and  1757,  and  joining  the 
French.  True,  the  Mohawks,  Oneidas  and  Tus- 
caroras  maintained  their  allegiance  to  the  British 
crown,  and  were  not  backward  upon  the  war-path  ; 


124  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

but  the  Onondagas,  Cayugas  and  Senecas,  against 
the  strongest  remonstrances  of  Sir  William,  de- 
clared themselves  neutral ;  while  large  numbers  of 
the  Senecas  and  Cayugas  actually  took  up  the 
hatchet  with  the  western  Indians,  in  alliance  with 
the  French.* 

The  defection  probably  would  have  been  great- 
er, but  for  circumstances  that  occurred  at  Fort 
Du  Quesne,  late  in  the  year  1757,  and  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  following  year.  These  circum- 
stances, which  will  be  presently  explained,  while 
they  evinced  the  absence,  for  a  time,  of  the  usual 
tact  and  sag-acity  of  the  French,  had  admirably 
opened  the  way  for  Christian  Post's  mission,  also 
having  the  effect  of  at  once  relieving  Sir  William 
Johnson  from  his  embarrassing  position  in  regard 
to  the  equivocal  attitude  of  three  of  the  Six  Na- 
tions. It  has  been  seen  that  Sir  William  had  in- 
terposed, not  only  directly  but  through  the  means 
of  some  of  his  Indians,  in  producing  the  partial 
peace  with  the  Delawares  and  Teedyuscung.  The 
baronet  had  also  succeeded  in  forming  an  alliance 
with  the  Cherokees,  some  of  whom  had  gone  upon 
the  war-path  in  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  Du 
Quesne.  These  were  now  likewise  exerting  them- 
selves to  detach  the  western  Indians,  as  far  as 
might  be,  from  the  French.f 

It  was  in  this  posture  of  affairs  that,  late  in  the 

♦  MSS.  of  SirWilliam  Johnson.  [  Idem. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING  125 

year  1757,  a  war-party  of  the  Twightwees,  (Mi- 
amies,)  in  a  frolic  close  by  the  fortress  of  Du 
Q,uesne,  killed  a  number  of  the  cattle  belonging 
to  the  French  troops  in  the  fort.  In  a  moment 
of  exasperation,  without  pausing  to  reflect  upon 
the  consequences,  the  French  fired  upon  the  ag- 
gressors, and  killed  some  ten  or  twelve  of  their 
number.  The  Twightwees  were  deeply  incensed 
at  this  outrage,  and  the  western  Indians  sympa- 
thized with  them  at  the  loss  of  their  braves.  It 
was  not  long,  probably,  before  their  resolution  was 
taken,  not  only  to  withdraw  from  the  French  ser- 
vice, but  to  avenge  the  untimely  fall  of  their  war- 
riors.* 

While  the  Twightwees  w  ere  thus  brooding  over 
this  wrong,  the  Delawares  intercepted  a  French 
despatch,  in  which  the  project  was  proposed  and 
discussed,  of  cutting  off  and  utterly  exterminating 
the  Six  Nations — forming,  as  they  did,  so  strong  a 
barrier  between  the  French  and  English  colonies. 
The  Indians  found  some  one  among  themselves 
to  read  the  document,  and  they  no  sooner  under- 
stood its  full  purport  than  they  repaired  to  the 
fortress  in  a  body,  and  charged  the  project  home 
upon  the  commander.  That  officer  was  either 
confused,  or  he  attempted  to  dissemble.     He  like- 

*  MSS.  of  Sir  William  Johnson. 

13* 


126 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 


wise  tried,  but  without  success,  to  obtain  the  doc- 
ument from  them.  They  kept  it,  and  its  con- 
tents were  the  occasion  of  wide-spread  consterna- 
tion among  the  Indians.  But  this  is  not  all.  In 
March,  1758,  a  deputation  of  the  Senecas  waited 
upon  Sir  William  Johnson,  with  a  message  from 
the  Delawares,  the  purport  of  which  was,  that  the 
French  had  recently  convened  a  great  council  of 
the  north-western  Indians  at  Detroit,  at  which  the 
same  project  of  exterminating  the  Six  Nations 
was  proposed  and  discussed.  The  pretext  urged 
upon  them  by  the  French  was,  that  the  Six  Nations 
were  wrongfully  claiming  the  territory  of  their 
western  brethren,  and  were  they  to  be  crushed  and 
extinguished,  there  would  be  no  more  difficulty 
upon  the  subject.  The  western  Indians  would 
come  into  the  full  enjoyment  of  their  own  again, 
without  question  as  to  jurisdiction.  They  there- 
fore proposed  that  all  the  Indians  should  join  them 
*'  in  cutting  off  the  Six  Nations  from  the  face  of 
the  earth."  This  proposition  startled  the  Dela- 
wares, who,  after  the  council,  determined  to  ap- 
prize the  Senecas  of  the  plot,  and  send  to  them  the 
hatchet  which  they  had  recieved  from  the  French 
to  use  against  the  English.  They  desired  the  Sen- 
ecas to  keep  the  hatchet  for  them,  as  they  were 
determined  not  to  use  it  again,  unless  by  direction 
of  their  cousins.  Having  received  the  message 
and  the  hatchet,  the   Senecas  called  a  council  to 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  127 

deliberate  upon  the  subject.  The  hatchet  they 
had  resolved  to  throw  into  deep  water,  where  it 
could  not  be  found  in  three  centuries,  and  they 
now  came  to  Sir  William  with  the  information, 
and  for  counsel.  It  was  a  favorable  moment  for 
the  baronet,  and  the  opportunity  was  not  suffered 
to  pass  unimproved.  It  so  happened  that  the  in- 
formation was  in  full  confirmation  of  the  predic- 
tions which  Sir  William  had  many  times  uttered 
to  the  Indians,  in  his  efforts  to  prevent  any  friend- 
ly intercourse  between  them  and  the  French. 
These  predictions  the  Senecas,  in  their  present 
troubles,  remembered  with  lively  impressions  of 
the  baronet's  sagacity  ]  and  the  result  of  the  in- 
terview was  an  entire  alienation  of  the  Senecas 
and  Cayugas  from  the  French.* 

On  the  19th  of  April  following,  the  Shawanese 
and  Delawares  of  Ohio  sent  a  message  of  peace 
to  Sir  William.  A  council  of  the  Mohawks  was 
immediately  convened,  at  the  suggestion  of  the 
baronet,  and  it  was  determined,  in  the  event  of 
war,  that  the  Shawanese  and  Delawares  should 
once  more  find  an  asylum  from  the  French  at  Ve- 
nango and  Fort  Du  Quesne  in  the  valley  of  Wy- 
oming. But  the  evacuation,  by  the  French,  of  the 
Ohio  country,  soon  afterward,  as  already  mention- 
ed, rendered  no  such  formal  removal  necessary. f 
Meantime   another  and  much  larger  council  was 

♦  MSS.  of  Sir  William  Johnson.  f  Idem. 


128  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

holden  at  Easton,  late  in  the  autumn  of  1758,  at 
which  all  the  Six  Nations,  and  most  of  the  Dela- 
ware tribes,  the  Shawanese,  the  Miamies  and 
some  of  the  Mohickanders  were  represented.  The 
number  of  Indians  assembled  was  about  five  hun- 
dred. Sir  William  Johnson  was  present,  and  the 
governments  of  Pennsylvania  and  New-Jersey 
were  likewise  represented.  Teedyuscung  assumed 
a  conspicuous  position  as  a  conductor  of  the  dis- 
cussions, at  which  the  Six  Nations  were  disposed 
for  a  time  to  be  offended — reviving  again  their 
claim  of  superiority.  But  the  Delaware  chief  was 
not  in  a  humor  to  yield  the  distinction  he  had 
already  acquired,  and  he  sustained  himself  through- 
out with  eloquence  and  dignity.* 

The  object  of  this  treaty  was  chiefly  the  adjust- 
ment of  boundaries,  and  to  extend  and  brighten 
the  chain  of  friendship,  not  only  between  the  In- 
dians themselves,  but  between  their  nations  col- 
lectively and  the  wliites.  It  was  a  convention  of 
much  harmony  toward  the  close,  and  after  nine- 
teen days'  sittings,  every  difficulty  being  adjusted, 
they  separated  with  great  cordiality  and  good 
will.f  '      ■ 

♦  Chapmnn. 

t  There  was  yetanotlier  council  of  the  Indians  held  at  Easton,  in  1761, 
in  which  Teedynscung  took  an  active  and  eloquent  part.  He  was  dissat- 
isfied at  Wyoininji:,  although  the  government  of  Pennsylvania  appear  to 
have  fulfilled  llu-ir  contract  to  build  houses  for  the  Indian.^,  at  considerable 
expense.  Teedyuscung,  however,  threatened  to  leave  the  place,  against 
which  resolution  he  was  strongly  urged.  The  proceedings  of  this  coun- 
cil, at  length,  are  among  Sir  William  Johnson's  manuscripts.  The  re- 
sults were  of  but  little  importance. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Indefinite  grants  of  lands  by  the  Crown,— Early  claim  of  Connecticut  to 
western  lands,— Conflicting  grants,— Organization  of  the  Susquehanna 
Company, — Project  of  colonizing  Wyoming.  Objections  of  the  Penn- 
sylvanians, — Conflicting  purchases  of  the  Indians, — First  attempt  to 
colonize  Wyoming, — Frustrated  by  tlie  Indian  Wars, — Resumed  in  1762, 
— First  arrival  of  settlers, — Friendship  with  the  Indians, — Return  to 
Connecticut  for  the  winter,— Opposition  of  the  Proprietaries,— Removal 
with  their  families,— Treacherous  assassination  of  Teedyuscung,— First 
Massacre  at  Wyoming, — I'ligni  or  ilic  ouivivnrs, — Case  of  Mr.  Hopkins, 
— Expedition  against  the  Indians, — Their  departure  from  the  valley, — 
Massacre  of  the  Conestogoe  Indians  by  the  Paxtang  zealots,— Disgrace- 
ful proceedings  that  ensued, — Moravian  Indians  settle  in  Wyalusing, — 
Remove  to  Ohio. 

Events  of  a  different  character  now  crowed  up- 
on the  attention.  "  The  first  grants  of  lands  in 
America,  by  the  crown  of  Great  Britian,  were 
made  with  a  lavishness  which  can  exist  only  where 
acquisitions  are  without  cost,  and  their  value  un- 
known ;  and  with  a  want  of  provision  in  regard  to 
boundaries  which  could  result  only  from  entire 
ignorance  of  the  country.  The  charters  of  the 
great  Western  and  Southern  Virginia  Companies, 
and  of  the  colonies  of  Massachusetts  Bay  and 
Connecticut,  were  of  this  liberal  and  uncertain 
character.  The  charter  of  the  Plymouth  Compa- 
ny covered  the  expanse  from  the  fortieth  to  the 


130  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

forty-sixth  degree  of  Northern  latitude,  extend- 
ing from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean."* 
This  charter  was  granted  by  King  James  I., 
under  the  great  seal  of  England,  in  the  most 
ample  manner,  on  the  3d  of  November,  1620, 
to  the  Duke  of  Lenox,  the  Marquis  of  Buck- 
ingham, the  Earls  of  Arundel  and  Warwick 
and  their  associates,  ^'  for  the  planting,  ruHng, 
ordering,  and  governing  of  New-England,  in 
America."  The  charter  of  Connecticut  was 
derived  from  the  Plymouth  Company,  of  which 
the  Earl  of  Warwick  was  President.  This  grant 
was  made  in  March,  1621,  to  Viscount  Say  and 
Seal,  liOrd  Brook,  and  their  associates.  It  was 
made  in  the  most  ample  form,  and  also  covered 
the  country  west  of  Connecticut,  to  the  extent  of 
its  breadth,  being  about  one  degree  of  latitude, 
from  sea  to  sea.f  This  grant  was  confirmed  by 
the  King  in  the  course  of  the  same  year,  and  again 
in  1662.  New- York,  or,  to  speak  more  correctly 
in  reference  to  that  period,  the  New-Netherlands, 
being  then  a  Dutch  possession,  could  not  be  claim- 
ed as  a  portion  of  these  munificent  grants,  if  for 


*  Gordon's  History  of  Pennsylvania. 

t  Trninbnll's  History  of  Connecticut.  Colonel  Timothy  Pickering,  in 
a  letter  to  Ills  son,  giving  the  particulars  of  the  highhanded  outrage  com- 
mitted upon  him  in  Wyoming,  in  1788,  in  speaking  of  these  grants,  re- 
marks:—"It  seems  natural  to  suppose  by  the  terms  of  these  grants,  ex- 
tending to  the  western  ocean,  that  in  early  times  the  continent  waa  con- 
ceived to  be  of  comparatively  little  breadth." 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  131 

no  Other  reason,  for  the  very  good  and  substantial 
one  that  in  the  grant  to  the  Plymouth  Company  an 
exception  was  made  of  all  such  portions  of  the  ter- 
ritory as  were  "  then  actually  possessed  or  inhabit- 
ed by  any  other  Christian  prince  or  State."     But 
the  round  phraseology  of  the  charters  opened  the 
door  sufficiently  wide  for  any   subsequent  claims, 
within   the   specified  parallels  of   latitude,  which 
the  company,   or  vits  successors,  might  afterward 
find   it   either  convenient  or  politic  to  interpose. 
And  it  appears  that  even  at  the  early  date  of  1651, 
some  of  the   people  of  Connecticut  were  already 
casting  longing  eyes   upon  a  section  of  the  valley 
of  the  Delaware.     It  was  represented  by  these  en- 
terprizing  men  that  they  had  purchased  the  lands 
in  question  from  the   Indians,  but  that  the  Dutch 
had  interposed  obstacles  to  their  settlement  there- 
on.    In  reply   to  their  petition,  the  commissioners 
of  the  United  Colonies  asserted  their  right  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  territory  claimed  upon  the  Del- 
aware, and  the  vahdity  of  the  purchases  that  had 
been    made    by   individuals.       "  They    protested 
against  the  conduct  of  the  Dutch,  and  assured 
the  petitioners   that   though   the   season  was   not 
meet  for  hostihties,  yet  if  within   twelve  months, 
at  their  own  charge,  they  should  transport  to  tlie 
Delaware  one  hundred  armed  men,   with  vessels 
and  ammunition  approved  by  the   magistrates  of 
New-Haven,  and  should  be  opposed  by  the  Dutch, 


132  HJSTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

they  should  be  assisted  by  as  many  soldiers  as  the 
commissioners  might  judge  meet;  the  lands  and 
trade  of  the  settlement  being  charged  with  the  ex- 
pense, and  continuing  under  the  government  of 
New-Haven."*  The  project,  however,  was  not 
pressed  during  the  designated  period,  nor  indeed 
does  it  seem  to  have  been  revived  for  more  than  a 
century  afterward.  Many  changes  of  political 
and  other  relations  had  occurred  during  this  long 
lapse  of  time.  Disputes  had  arisen  between  the 
people  of  Connecticut  and  the  New  Netherlands 
in  regard  to  boundaries,  which  had  been  adjusted 
by  negociation  and  compromise.  The  colony 
of  New  Netherlands  had  moreover  fallen,  by 
the  fortunes  of  war,  under  the  sway  of  the 
British  crown.  The  colonies  of  New  Jersey 
and  Pennsylvania  had  also  been  planted.  Va- 
rious additional  grants  had  been  given  by  the 
crown,  and  other  questions  of  territorial  limits 
had  been  raised  and  adjusted.  But  in  none 
of  these  transactions  had  Connecticut  relinquished 
her  claims  of  jurisdiction,  and  the  pre-emptive 
right  to  the  lands  of  the  Indians,  lying  beyond 
New- York,  and  north  of  the  fortieth  degree  of 
latitude,  as  defined  in  the  original  grant  to  the 

*  This  quotation  is  from  Gordon.  Colonel  Pickering,  in  the  letter  al- 
ready cited  in  a  preceding  note,  addressed  to  his  son,  and  privately  printed 
for  the  use  of  his  own  family  only,  supposed  that  Connecticut  did  not  set 
up  any  formal  claim  to  lands  west  of  New-York  and  New-Jersey,  until 
just  prior  to  the  revolution.    He  was  in  error. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  133 

Plymouth  Company.  The  grant  of  this  Compa- 
ny to  Lord  Say  and  Seal  and  Lord  Brook  had 
been  made  fifty  years  before  the  grant  of  the  crown 
to  William  Penn,  and  the  confirmation  of  that 
grant  to  Connecticut  by  royal  charter,  nineteen 
years  prior  to  that  conveyance.*  Unfortunately, 
moreover,  from  the  laxity  that  prevailed  among 
the  advisers  of  the  crown,  in  the  granting  of  pa- 
tents, as  to  boundaries,  the  patent  to  William  Penn 
covered  a  portion  of  the  grant  to  Connecticut, 
equal  to  one  degree  of  latitude  and  five  of  longi- 
tude ;  and  within  this  territory,  thus  covered  by 
double  grants,  was  situated  the  section  of  the  Del 
aware  country  heretofore  spoken  of  :f  as  also  the 
yet  richer  and  more  inviting  valley  of  Wyoming, 
toward  which  some  of  the  more  restless  if  not  en- 
terprizing  sons  of  the  Pilgrims  were  already  turn- 
ing their  eyes  with  impatience.  Hence  the  diffi- 
culties, and  feuds,  and  civil  conflicts,  an  account 
of  which  will  form  the  residue  of  the  present  and 
the  succeeding  chapter. 

The  project  of  establishing  a  colony  in  Wyo- 
ming was  started  by  sundry  individuals  in  Con- 
necticut in  1753,  during  which  year  an  association 
was  formed  for  that  purpose,  called  the  Susque- 

*  Trumbull. 

t  The  specific  claim  of  the  Delaware  Company,  was  to  the  lands  be- 
tween the  ranges  of  the  north  and  south  lines  of  Connecticut,  westward 
by  the  Delaware  river,  to  within  ten  miles  of  the  Susquehanna. 

14 


134  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

hanna  Company,  and  a  number  of  agents  were 
commissioned  to  proceed  thither,  explore  the  coun- 
try, and  conciliate  the  good  will  of  the  Indians. 
This  commission  was  executed  ;  and  as  the  valley, 
though  at  that  time  in  the  occupancy  of  the  Del- 
awares,  was  claimed  by  the  Six  Nations,  a  pur- 
chase of  that  Confederacy  was  determined  upon. 
To  this  end,  a  deputation  of  the  company,  the  as- 
sociates of  which  already  numbered  about  six  hun- 
dred persons  embracing  many  gentlemen  of  wealth 
and  character,  was  directed  to  repair  to  Albany, 
where  a  great  Indian  Council  was  to  be  assembled 
in   1754,  and  if  possible  to  effect  the  purchase. 
Their  movements  were  not  invested  with  secrecy, 
and  the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania, — James  Ham- 
ilton,— ^becoming  acquainted  with  them,  was  not 
slow  in  interposing  objections  to  the  procedure — 
claiming  the  lands  as  falling  within  the  charter  of 
Penn,  and  of  course  belonging,  the  pre-emptive 
right  at  least,  to  the  Proprietaries  for  whom  he  was 
administering  the  government.     Hamilton  wrote 
to  Governor  Wolcott  upon  the  subject,  protesting 
strongly  against  the  designs  of  the  company.     To 
this  letter  Wolcott  replied,  that  the  projectors  of 
the  enterprise  supposed  the  lands  in  question  were 
not  comprised  within  the  grant  to  William  Penn ; 
but  should  it  appear  that  they  were,  the  Governor 
thought  there  would  be  no  disposition  to  quarrel 
upon  the  subject.     Governor  Hamilton  also  ad- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING  135 

dressed  General  (afterward  Sir  William)  Johnson 
in  relation  to  the  matter,  praying  his  interposition 
to  prevent  the  Six  nations  from  making  any  sales 
to  the  agents  of  the  Connecticut  Company,  should 
they  appear  at  Albany  for  that  purpose  ;  and  from 
the  letters  and  other  manuscripts  preserved  among 
the  papers  of  the  baronet,  yet  extant,  it  is  certain 
that  he  entered  fully  into  the  views  of  the  govern- 
ment of  Pennsylvania,  then  and  afterward  doing 
all  in  his  power  to  thwart  the  Connecticut  en- 
terprize. 

But  these  precautionary  measures  on  the  part 
of  Hamilton  did  not  defeat  the  object  of  the  Con- 
necticut Company,  although  a  strong  deputation 
to  that  end  was  sent  from  Pennsylvania  to  Albany.* 
A  purchase  was  made  by  the  Connecticut  agents, 
of  a  tract  of  land  extending  about  seventy  miles 
north  and  south,  and  form  a  parallel  line  ten  miles 
east  of  the  Susquehanna,  westward  two  degrees  of 
longitude.f  This  purchase  included  the  whole 
valley  of  Wyoming,  and  the  country  westward  to 
the  sources  of  the  Alleghany  4     The  Pennsylvania 

*  The  Delegates  from  Connecticut  were,  William  Pitkin,  Roger  Wolcott, 
and  Elisha  Williams.  Those  from  Pennsylvania  were,  John  and  Richard 
Penn,  Isaac  Norris,  and  Benjamin  Franklin.   ' 

t  Trumbull.  Since  the  publication  of  the  first  edition  of  the  present 
work,  I  have  obtained  the  Deed  of  this  purchase,  which  will  be  found  in 
the  appendix,  containing  the  names  of  all  the  parties  to  the  contract. 

X  chapman.  Another  association  was  subsequently  formed  in  Connec- 
ticut, called  the  Delaware.  Company,  which  purchased  the  land  of  the  Indi- 
ans, east  of  the  Wyoming  tract,  to  the  Delaware  river.  This  company 
commenced  a  settlement  on  the  Delaware  at  a  place  called  Coshutunk  in 


136  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

delegates  did  all  in  their  power  to  circumvent  the 
agents  of  the  Susquehanna  Company,  holding  sev- 
eral private  councils  with  the  chiefs  of  the  Six  Na- 
tions, and  endeavoring  to  purchase  the  same  lands 
themselves.  In  the  course  of  their  consultations, 
Hendrick,  the  last  of  the  Mohawk  kings,*  think- 
ing that  some  reflection  had  been  cast  upon  his 
character,  became  excited,  and  declared  that  nei- 
ther of  the  parties  should  have  the  land.  But  the 
Connecticut  agents  succeeded,  as  already  stated, 
and  the  Pennsylvanians  also  effected  the  purchase 
of  "  a  tract  of  land  between  the  Blue  Mountains 
and  the  forks  of  the  Susquehanna  river."f  Strong 
efforts  were  subsequently  made  by  the  Pennsylva- 
nia government,  aided  by  the  influence  of  General 
Johnson,  to  induce  the  Indians  to  revoke  the  sale 
to  the  Susquehanna  Company,  and  Hendrick  was 
prevailed  upon  by  Johnson  to  make  a  visit  to  Phil- 
adelphia upon  that  business.  And  injustice  to  the 
Pennsylvanians  it  must  be  allowed,  that  they  al- 
ways protested  against  the  legality  of  this  purchase 
by  their  rivals — alleging  that  the  bargain  was  not 
made  in  open  council,  that  it  was  the  work  of  a 
few  of  the  chiefs  only,  and  that  several  of  them 
were  in  a  state  of  intoxication  when  they  signed 

1757,  which  was  the  first  settlement  founded  by  tlie  people  of  Connecticut 
within  the  territory  claimed  by  them  west  of  New-York. 

*  He  fell,  briivcly  fighting  under  General  Johnson,  in  the  battle  of  lAko 
George,  the  following  year. 

t  Chapman, 


•       HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  137 

the  deed  of  conveyance.*  It  is  farthermore  true 
that  in  1736  the  Six  Nations  had  sold  to  the  Pro- 
prietaries the  lands  upon  both  sides  of  the  Susque- 
hanna,— "  from  the  mouth  of  the  said  river  up  to 
the  mountains  called  the  Kakatchlanamin  hills, 
and  on  the  west  side  to  the  setting  of  the  sun."f 
But  this  deed  was  held  by  the  advocates  of  the 
Connecticut  purchase,  to  be  quite  too  indefinite  ; 
and  besides,  as  the  "  hills  "  mentioned,  which  are 
none  other  than  the  Blue  Mountains,  formed  the 
northern  boundary  not  only  of  that  purchase,  but 
in  the  apprehension  of  the  Indians,  of  the  Colony 
of  Pennsylvania  itself,  Wyoming  valley  could  not 
have  been  included. { 

*MS.  letters  of  Governor  Hamilton  to  General  Johnson,  in  the  author's 
possession.  Gordon  might  be  cited  to  the  same  purpose ;  and  the  same 
opinion  is  also  supported  by  Colonel  Pickering,  who  remarks  : — "These 
purchases  were  not  made,  I  am  well  satisfied,  at  any  public  council,  or 
open  treaties  of  the  Indians  to  whom  they  belonged,  but  of  little  knots  of 
inferior  and  unauthorized  chiefs,  indifferent  about  the  consequences,  pro- 
Tided  they  received  some  present  gratifications,  of  comparatively  small 
value." 

t  "  The  lands  had  already  been  sold,  to  the  Proprietaries  of  Pennsylva- 
nia in  1730,  and  that  sale  enlarged  and  confirmed  by  a  public  deed  whose 
seals  were  scarce  dry.  The  Indian  councils  at  all  times  afterward  denied 
the  sale  (at  Albany  in  1754.)  They  disclaimed  it  in  January,  1755,  and  in 
November,  1758,  at  Philadelphia ;  and,  in  1763,  they  sent  a  deputation  to 
Connecticut,  on  hearing  that  three  hundred  families  proposed  to  settle 
these  lands,  to  remonstrate  against  their  intrusion,  and  to  deny  the  alleg- 
ed sale  ;  and,  in  1771,  the  Delawares  and  their  derivative  tribes,  also  pro- 
tested that  they  had  never  sold  any  right  to  the  Connecticut  claimants." — 
Gordon, 

X  On  the  17th  of  September,  1718,  Sassoon,  ''  King  of  the  Delaware  In- 
dians"— so  runs  the  deed, — "and  Pokehais,  Metashichay,  Aiyamaikan, 
Pepawmaman,  Ghettypcnceman  and  Opekasset,  chiefs  of  the  said  Indians, 
for  and  in  consideration  of  two  guns,  six  stroud  water-coats,  six  blankets, 

14* 


138 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 


Having  succeded  in  their  purchase,  the  Sus- 
quehanna company  procured  a  charter  from  the 
government  of  Connecticut,  upon  a  memorial  pray- 
ing "that  they  might  be  formed  into  a  distinct 
commonweahh,  if  it  should  be  his  Majesty's  plea- 
sure to  grant  it,  with  such  privileges  and  immu- 
nities as  should  be  agreeable  to  the  royal  pleasure." 
The  company  now  consisted  of  six  hundred  and 
seventy-three  associates,  ten  of  whom  were  resi- 
dents of  Pennsylvania  ;  and  it  was  beyond  doubt 
their  design  to  form  a  separate  colony,  with  a  gov- 
ernment of  its  own,  subject,  not  to  that  of  Con-' 
necticut,  but  only  to  the  crown.  But  the  course 
of  subsequent  events  defeated  that  object.  Still, 
it  was  not  immediately  abandoned,  and  a  meeting 
of  the  company  was  called  at  Hartford,  at  which 
the  purchase  was  divided  into  shares  and  distrib- 
uted among  the  associates.  A  messenger  had  been 
previously  despatched  to  Pennsylvania,  to  summon 
the  attendance  of  the  shareholders  residing  in  that 
province  ;  but  he  was  arrested  by  the  civil  author- 
ities, and  after  the  Governor,  Morris,  had  been 
apprized  of  the  circumstance,  and  the  fresh  move- 
ments of  the  company,  a  messenger  was  sent  to 
Hartford  with  a  remonstrance  against  their  farther 

six  duffle  match-coats,  and  four  kettles,  gave  a  deed  of  conflrmation  of 
antecedent  sales,  by  their  ancestors  to  William  Penn,  of  nil  the  lands  be- 
tween "  the  two  rivers,  Delaware  and  Susquehanna,  from  Duck  Creek  to 
the  mountains  on  this  side  Lechay."  This  deed  is  certified,  among  oth- 
ers, by  Sir  William  Keith,  at  that  time  gevernor  of  Pennsylvania. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  139 

proceedings.  What  became  of  the  messenger 
who  was  arrested  does  not  appear. 

Nothing  daunted  by  the  remonstrance,  the  com- 
pany pushed  forward  a  number  of  colonists,  ac- 
companied by  surveyors  and  agents,  in  order  to 
the  immediate  commencement  of  the  new  repub- 
lic. Unluckily  for  the  enterprise,  however,  the 
company  arrived  in  the  valley  just  as  the  Indians, 
under  the  influence  of  the  French,  as  related  in  a 
former  chapter,  and  encouraged  by  the  defeat  of 
Braddock  and  the  fall  of  Oswego,  were  beginning 
to  manifest  a  hostile  disposition  toward  the  Eng- 
lish. The  Nanticokes  were  the  most  belligerent 
in  their  feelings,  and  would  probably  have  detain- 
ed the  new  comers  as  prisoners,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  friendly  interposition  of  Teedyuscung,  who 
had  not  yet  determined  to  take  up  the  hatchet, 
although  he  did  so  soon  afterward.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  interposition,  no  injury  was  inflicted 
upon  the  strangers,  and  they  judged  wisely  in 
abandoning  the  enterprise  for  the  time,  and  re- 
turning to  Connecticut.  The  attempt  was  not 
renewed  until  after  the  general  peace  with  the 
Indians,  concluded  at  Easton,  as  heretofore  stated, 
in  1758,  nor  indeed  until  after  the  fall  of  Canada 
before  the  valor  of  the  English  and  Provincial 
arms. 

The  Delaware  company  commenced  a  settle- 
ment, under  favorable  circumstances,  at  a  place 


140  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

called  Cushetunk,  on  the  river  whence  the  name 
of  their  association  was  derived,  in  1757  ;  and  in 
1758  the  Susquehanna  Company  resumed  their 
preparations  for  planting  their  colony  in  Wyoming. 
But  the  unsettled  condition  of  the  frontier,  not- 
withstanding the  peace  then  just  concluded  with 
the  Indians,  seemed  to  render  it  inexpedient,  if 
not  hazardous,  for  those  intending  to  become  col- 
onists to  venture  at  that  time  so  far  into  the  wil- 
derness. These  dangers  being  apparently  removed, 
in  the  year  1762  a  body  of  settlers  to  the  number 
of  about  two  hundred  pushed  forward  to  the  val- 
ley, so  long  the  object  of  their  keen  desire.  They 
planted  themselves  down  upon  the  margin  of  the 
river,  a  short  distance  above  its  intersection  by  a 
fine  stream  of  water,  called  Mill  Creek,  flowing 
from  the  east ;  and  at  a  sufficient  distance  from 
the  Indian  towns  to  prevent  any  immediate  collis- 
ion of  their  agricultural  interests.  The  greater 
part  of  the  valley  was  yet  covered  with  wood,  ex- 
cepting for  short  distances  close  around  the  Del- 
aware and  Shawanese  towns,  where  the  trees  had 
been  cut  away  in  the  slender  progress  of  Indian 
husbandry.  But  the  new  colonists  set  themselves 
vigorously  at  work ;  a  sufficient  number  of  log 
houses  and  cabins  were  erected  for  their  accom- 
modation ;  and  before  the  arrival  of  winter,  ex- 
tensive fields  of  wheat  had  been  sown  upon  lands 
covered  with  forest  trees  in  August. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  141 

These  adventurers  had  not  taken  their  famihes 
with  them ;  and  having  now  made  so  favorable  a 
beginning,  they  secured  their  agricuhural  imple- 
ments and  returned  to  Connecticut.'^  It  has  been 
asserted  that  the  resident  Indians  were  opposed 
to  this  intrusion  of  the  pale-faces  among  them,  and 
that  their  chief,  Teedyuscung,  strongly  remonstra- 
ted against  it.f  This  may  be  true,  but  if  so,  it  is 
equally  true  that  they  must  have  soon  laid  aside 
their  prejudices,  inasmuch  as  they  speedily  came 
to  live  upon  terms  of  daily  intercommunication, 
and  great  apparent  harmony.  But  it  was  not  thus 
with  the  Pennsylvanians.  They  looked  with  dis- 
pleasure upon  such  a  bold  encroachment  upon  ter- 
ritories claimed  as  their  own,  and  the  most  strenu- 
ous efforts  were  again  put  forth  to  crush  the  enter- 
prise. The  correspondence  between  the  Exec- 
utive of  Pennsylvania  and  Sir  William  Johnson 
was  re-opened,  and  the  influence  of  the  Baronet 
was  exerted  upon  the  Six  Nations,  to  persuade 
them  to  disavow  the  sale  of  seventeen  hundred  and 
fifty-four.  Those  of  the  Indians  who  had  not  been 
concerned  in  the  sale,  and  who  on  the  other  hand 
were  doubtless  opposed  to  it,  were  of  course  not 
unwilling  to  repudiate  the  transaction ;  and  a 
deputation  of  five  of  their  chiefs  was  sent  to  Hart- 
ford, accompanied  by  Colonel  Guy  Johnson,  Dep- 

*  C  Jjapraao,  J  GQr4oH, 


l4St  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

uty- Agent,  and  an  interpreter  sent  by  Sir  William. 
Conferences  were  held  by  these  chiefs  with  the 
Governor  of  Connecticut  and  his  Council,  on  the 
28th  and  30th  of  May,  in  the  course  of  which  the 
sale  of  the  land  was  disavowed  as  a  national  trans- 
action. They  admitted  that  a  sale  had  been  made, 
but  denied  its  validity,  inasmuch,  they  averred,  as 
it  had  not  been  made  according  to  ancient  usage, 
in  a  full  and  open  Council,  but  the  chiefs  who  had 
signed  the  deed  had  been  applied  to  separately, 
and  had  acted  only  in  their  individual  capacities. 
Governor  Fitch,  in  reply,  assured  the  chiefs  that 
the  movements  of  the  company  had  not  been  au- 
thorised by  the  government,  and  with  their  pro^ 
ceedings  it  had  in  fact  had  nothing  to  do.  For 
their  farther  satisfaction,  moreover,  the  Governor 
informed  them  that  orders  had  been  received  from 
His  Majesty,  commanding  him  to  use  his  authority 
and  influence  to  prevent  the  intended  movement 
upon  the  lands  in  dispute,  until  the  matter  should 
be  laid  before  the  King.  They  were  likewise, 
still  farther  assured  that  the  company  had  acquies- 
ed  in  those  orders,  and  had  unanimously  agreed 
that  no  person  should  enter  upon  the  lands  until 
His  Majesty's  pleasure  should  be  known.*  With 
these  assurances,  the  deputies,  consisting  of  one 
Mohawk,two  Onondagas,  and  two  Cayugas, — none 

*  For  the  proceedings  of  these  conferences  at  Hartford,  see  appendix 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  143 

of  them  chiefs  of  note, — seem  to  have  been  satis- 
fied. But  whatever  might  have  been  the  desire 
of  the  shareholders  of  the  company,  the  individu- 
als who  had  resolved  to  emigrate  gave  little  at- 
tention to  their  stipulations  with  the  Governor ;  and 
their  advance  was  met  by  a  series  of  unheeded  pro- 
clamations, and  followed  by  the  powerless  remon- 
strances of  the  sheriff  and  magistracy  residing  in 
Northampton  county,  on  the  Delaware,  to  which 
the  valley  of  Wyoming  was  held  to  belong, 
the  seat  of  justice  of  which  was  at  Easton.  Nor 
was  this  all.  In  the  course  of  the  same  year,  the 
Proprietaries  of  Pennsylvania  made  a  case,  and 
took  the  opinion  of  the  Attorney  General  of  the 
crown,*  as  to  the  right  of  Connecticut  to  the  terri- 
tory she  was  claiming.  That  officer  was  clear  in 
his  opinion  against  Connecticut — holding  that,  by 
virtue  of  her  adjustment  of  boundaries  with  New- 
York,  she  was  precluded  from  advancing  a  step 
beyond.  But  the  Susquehanna  company  was  not 
idle.  Colonel  EUphalet  Dyer,  a  leading  associate, 
and  a  man  of  energy  and  abilities,  was  dispatched 
to  England,  charged  likewise  with  a  "case,"  care- 
fully prepared,  which  was  presented  to  the  con- 
sideration of  eminent  counsel  in  London,  who 
came  to  a  directly  opposite  conclusion.!     Each 

*Mr.  Pratt— afterward  Lord  Camden. 

t  The  author  has  obtained  a  collection  of  Colonel  Dyer's  correspondence 
while  abroad  upon  this  mission.  His  letters  prove  his  diligence,  and  his 
perseverance,  in  prosecuting  his  business,  but  are  not  historically  impor- 
tant. 


144  HISTORY    OF    ^VTOMING. 

party,  therefore,  felt  strengthened  by  those  con- 
jflicting  legal  opinions,  and  both  became  the  more 
resolute  in  the  prosecution  of  their  claims. 

Meantime  fresh  scenes  were  opening  in  the  dis- 
puted  territory  itself,  as  painful   as   unexpected. 
Notwithstanding  a  proclamation  issued  by  Gover- 
nor Fitch,  eight  days  after  the  conferences  with 
the  Indians  were  ended,  forbidding  the  people  of 
Connecticut  from    trespassing  upon  the  disputed 
territory,  the  pioneers  who  in  the  summer  of  1762 
had  commenced  their  operations  in  Wyoming,  re- 
turned to  the  valley  to  resume   their  labors  early 
in  the  ensuing  spring,  accompanied  by  their  fami- 
lies,   and   with  augumented  numbers  of  settlers. 
They  were  furnished  with  an  adequate  supply  of 
provisions,  and  took  with  them   a  quantity  of  live 
stock,   black  cattle,  horses,  and   pigs.     Thus  pro- 
vided, and    calculating  to   draw  largely  from  the 
teeming  soil  in  the  course  of  the  season,  they  re- 
sumed their  labors  with  light  hearts  and   vigorous 
arms.     The  forests  rapidly  retreated  before  their 
well-directed  blows,  and  in  the  course  of  the  sum- 
mer they  commenced  bringing  the  lands  into  cul- 
tivation on  the  west  side  of  the  river.     Their  ad- 
vancement was  now  so  rapid,  that  it  is  believed 
the  jealousies  of  the  Indians  began  to  be  awak- 
ened.    At  least,  notwithstanding  the  claims  which 
the  Six  Nations  had   asserted  over  the  territory, 
by  virtue  of  which  they  had  sold  to  the   S usque- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  145 

hanna  Company,  Teedyuscung  and  his  people 
alleged  that  they  ought  themselves  to  receive  com- 
pensation also.  Sir  William  Johnson  had  indeed 
predicted  as  much  in  a  letter  addressed  to  Gov- 
ernor Fitch,  in  the  preceding  month  of  November, 
in  which  he  said : — ''  I  cannot  avoid  giving  you 
my  sentiments,  as  I  formerly  did,  that  the  Indians 
insist  upon  the  claims  of  the  people  of  Con- 
necticut to  lands  on  the  Susquehanna,  as  unlawful, 
and  the  steps  taken  to  obtain  the  same  to  be  un- 
just, and  have  declared  themselves  determined  to 
oppose  any  such  settlement.  I  am  therefore  ap- 
prehensive any  farther  attempt  at  an  establishment 
there,  will  not  only  be  severely  felt  by  those  who 
shall  put  the  same  in  execution,  but  may,  (not- 
withstanding all  my  endeavors  to  the  contrary,)  be 
productive  of  fatal  consequences  on  our  fron- 
tiers."* 

Thus  matters  stood  until  early  in  October,  when 
an  event  occurred  which  broke  up  the  settlement 
at  one  fell  blow.  It  has  already  been  seen  that  at 
the  great  council  held  at  Easton,  in  1758,  the  Six 
Nations  had  observed  with  no  very  cordial  feehngs, 
the  important  position  which  Teedyuscung  had 
attained  in  the  opinion  of  the  whites,  by  the  force 
of  his  talents  and  the  energy  of  his  character. 
Long  accustomed  to  view  the  Delawares  and  their 

*  MSS.  draught  of  the  letter  in  the  author's  possession. 

15 


146  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

derivative  tribes  as  their  subjects,  the  haughty 
Mengwes  could  not  brook  this  advancement  of  a 
supposed  inferior;  and  the  reflection  had  been  rank- 
ling in  their  bosoms  ever  since  the  meeting  of  that 
council,  until  it  was  determined  to  cut  off  the  ob- 
ject of  their  hate.  For  this  purpose,  at  the  time 
above  mentioned,  a  party  of  warriors  from  the  Six 
Nations  came  to  the  valley  upon  a  pretended  visit 
of  friendship,  and  after  lingering  about  for  several 
days,  they  in  the  night  time  treacherously  set  fire 
to  the  house  of  the  unsuspecting  chief,  which,  with 
the  veteran  himself,  was  burnt  to  ashes.  The 
wickedness  of  this  deed  of  darkness  was  height- 
ened by  an  act  of  still  greater  atrocity.  They 
charged  the  assassination  upon  the  white  settlers 
of  Connecticut,  and  had  the  address  to  inspire  the 
Delawares  with  such  a  belief.  The  consequences 
may  readily  be  anticipated.  Teedyuscung  was 
greatly  beloved  by  his  people,  and  their  exaspera- 
tion at  "  the  deep  damnation  of  his  taking  off,"  was 
kindled  to  a  degree  of  corresponding  intensity. 

The  white  settlers,  however,  being  entirely  inno^ 
cent  of  the  transaction, — utterly  unconscious  that  it 
had  been  imputed  to  them, — were  equally  uncon- 
scious of  the  storm  that  was  so  suddenly  to  break 
upon  their  heads.  Their  intercourse  with  the  Indi- 
ans, during  the  preceding  year,  had  been  so  entire- 
ly friendly,  that  they  had  not  even  provided  them- 
selves with  weapons  of  self-defence ;  and  although 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  147 

there  had  been  some  slight  manifestations  of  jea- 
lousy at  their  onward  progress,  among  the  Indians, 
yet  their  pacific  relations,  thus  far,  had  not  been 
interrupted.  But  they  were  now  reposing  in  false 
security.  Stimulated  to  revenge  by  the  represen- 
tations of  their  false  and  insidious  visiters,  the  De- 
lawares,  on  the  14th  of  October,  rose  upon  the 
settlement,  and  massacred  about  thirty  of  the 
people,  in  cold  blood,  at  noonday,  while  engaged 
in  the  labors  of  the  field.  Those  who  escaped 
ran  to  the  adjacent  plantations,  to  apprize  them  of 
what  had  happened,  and  were  the  swift  messen- 
gers of  the  painful  intelligence  to  the  houses  of 
the  settlement,  and  the  families  of  the  slain.  It  was 
an  hour  of  sad  consternation.  Having  no  arms 
even  for  self-defence,  the  people  were  compelled 
at  once  to  seize  upon  such  few  of  their  effects  as 
they  could  carry  upon  their  shoulders,  and  flee  to 
the  mountains.  As  they  turned  back  during  their 
ascent  to  steal  an  occasional  glance  at  the  beauti- 
ful valley  below,  they  beheld  the  savages  driving 
their  cattle  away  to  their  own  towns,  and  plun- 
dering their  houses  of  the  goods  that  had  been 
left.  At  nightfall  the  torch  was  applied,  and  the 
darkness  that  hung  over  the  vale  was  illuminated 
by  the  lurid  flames  of  their  own  dwellings, — the 
abodes  of  happiness  and  peace  in  the  morning. 
Hapless  indeed  was  the  condition  of  the  fugitives. 
Their  number  amounted   to  several   hundreds — 


148  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

men,  women  and  children, — the  infant  at  the 
breast, — the  happy  wife  a  few  brief  hours  before, 
— now  a  widow,  in  the  midst  of  a  group  of  or- 
phans. The  supphes,  both  of  provisions  and  cloth- 
ing, which  they  had  secured  in  the  moment  of  their 
flight,  were  altogether  inadequate  to  their  wants. 
The  chilly  winds  of  autumn  were  howling  with 
melancholy  wail  among  the  mountain  pines, 
through  which,  over  rivers  and  glens,  and  fearful 
morasses,  they  were  to  thread  their  way  sixty  miles, 
to  the  nearest  settlements  on  the  Delaware,  and 
thence  back  to  their  friends  in  Connecticut  a  dis- 
tance of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  Notwith- 
standing the  hardships  they  were  compelled  to  en- 
counter, and  the  deprivations  under  which  they 
labored,  many  of  them  accomplished  the  journey 
in  safety,  while  others,  lost  in  the  mazes  of  the 
swamps,  were  never  heard  of  more. 

Thus  fell  Teedyuscung,  who,  with  all  his  faults, 
was  yet  one  of  the  noblest  of  his  race.  Yet  his  char- 
acter stands  not  well  in  history, — not  as  well,  by 
any  means,  as  it  deserves.  That  he  was  a  man 
of  talents  and  courage,  there  can  be  no  question, 
but  withal  he  was  greatly  subject  to  the  constitu- 
tional infirmities  of  his  race, — unstable  in  his  pur- 
poses, and  a  lover  of  the  fire-waters, — the  ene- 
my which,  received  to  the  lip,  steals  away  the 
brain  alike  of  the  white  man  and  the  red.  It  has 
already  been  seen  that  he  was  early  a  convert, — 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  149 

and  apparently  a  sincere  one, — to  the  christian 
faith  of  the  missionaries.  But  his  faith  was  too 
weak  to  withstand  the  influence  of  ambition  ;  and 
when  elevated  to  the  supreme  chieftainship  of  the 
scattering  tribes  of  his  nation,  his  behavior  was 
such  as  to  cause  the  good  missionaries  to  tremble 
for  his  safety,  seeing  that  he  became  "  like  a  reed 
shaken  by  the  wind."*  Hitherto,  for  many  years, 
his  nation  had  been  down-trodden  by  the  Iroquois  ; 
but  when  they  determined  once  more  to,  assert 
their  own  manhood,  and  to  grasp  the  hatchet  pre- 
sented them  by  the  French,  electing  Teedyuscung 
their  king,  as  he  had  been  their  energetic  cham- 
pion in  the  councils,  before,  he  now  became,  as 
he  was  called,  "  The  Trumpet  of  War."t  He 
did  not,  however,  long  continue  upon  the  war 
path,  but,  as  has  been  seen  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ter, became  an  early  advocate  and  ambassador  of 
peace,  although  his  sincerity  in  this  respect  was 
questioned  by  the  Moravian  clergy,  and  likewise 
by  Sir  William  Johnson.  Still  it  must  be  record- 
ed in  his  behalf  that  he  appears  never  to  have  en- 
tirely forfeited  the  confidence  of  the  Quakers. 
They  w^ere  indeed  opposed  to  the  declaration  of 
war  against  the  Indians  by  Governor  Hamilton — 
believing  that  the  difficulties  with  them  might 
have  been  healed  by  a  more  pacific  course.     And 

*  Loskiel.  •{■  Idem. 

15* 


15  0  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

in  this  view  they  had  the  concurrence  of  Sir  Wil- 
liam Johnson.  But  in  regard  to  the  character  of 
Teedyuscung,  the  sympathies  of  the  baronet  were 
with  his  own  Indians — the  Six  Nations.  They 
hated,  and  finally  murdered  him,  and  Sir  William 
loved  him  not.  Yet  in  his  correspondence,  while 
he  labored  to  detract  somewhat  from  the  lofty 
pretensions  of  the  Delaware  Captain,  the  baronet 
has  conceded  to  him  enough  of  talent,  influence, 
and  pQwer  among  his  people,  to  give  him  a  proud 
rank  among  the  chieftains  of  his  race.*  Certain 
it  is,  that  Teedyuscung  did  much  to  restore  his  na- 
tion to  the  rank  of  men,  of  which  they  had  been 
deprived  by  the  Iroquois,  and  great  allowances  are 
to  be  made  on  the  score  of  his  instability  of  con- 
duct, from  the  peculiar  circumstances  under  which 
he  was  often  placed.  In  regard  to  his  religious  char- 
acter and  professions,  his  memory  rests  beneath  a 
cloud.  There  were  seasons,  according  to  the  rec- 
ords of  the  faithful  missionary  in  which  he  gave 
signs  of  penitence  and  reform.  After  his  with- 
drawal from  the  war,  he  resided  for  a  considera- 
ble time  in  the  neighborhood  of  Bethlehem,  with 
about  one  hundred  of  his  warriors,  and  the  Breth- 
ren did  all  in  their  power  for  his  reclamation.  Oc- 
casional appearances  of  contrition  at  times  inspir- 
ed hopes  of  success.     "  As  to  externals,"  he  once 

*  MSS.  Letters  of  Sir  William  Johnson  to  Governor  Denny,  and  a 
rery  long  one  to  Major  General  Abercrombie,  in  the  author's  possession. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  151 

said,  ^^  I  possess  everything  in  plenty  ;  but  riches 
are  of  no  use  to  me,  for  I  have  a  troubled  con- 
science. I  still  remember  well  what  it  is  to  feel 
peace  in  the  heart,  but  I  have  now  lost  all."  Yet 
he  soon  turned  back.  All  hopes  of  his  case  were 
lost ;  and  in  recording  his  death,  the  benevolent 
Loskiel  briefly  says — ''  he  was  burnt  in  his  house 
at  Wajomick,  without  having  given  any  proof  of 
repentance."*" 

Among  the  individual  incidents  marking  this 
singular  tragedy  was  the  following : — Some  of  the 
fugitives  were  pursued  for  a  time  by  a  portion  of 
the  Indians,  and  among  them  w^as  a  settler  named 
Noah  Hopkins, — a  wealthy  man  from  the  county 
of  Duchess,  in  the  State  of  New-York,  bordering 
upon  Connecticut.  He  had  disposed  of  a  hand- 
some landed  patrimony  in  his  native  town,  Ame- 
nia,  and  invested  the  proceeds  as  a  shareholder  of 
the  Susquehanna  Company,  and  in  making  prepa- 
rations for  moving  to  the  new  colony.  Finding, 
by  the  sounds,  that  the  Indians  were  upon  his 
trail,  after  running  a  long  distance,  he  fortunately 

*  Major  Parsons,  who  acted  as  secretary  to  the  conference  with  Teedy- 
uscung  in  1756,  described  him  as  "  a  lusty  raw-boned  man,  haughty,  and 
very  desirous  of  respect  and  command."  He  was  however,  something  of 
a  wit.  A  tradition  at  Stroudsburg,  states,  that  he  there  met  one  day  a 
blaclismith  named  Wm  McNabb,  a  rather  worthless  fellow,  who  accosted 
him  with,  "  Well,  cousin,  how  do  you  do  ?"  "  Cousin,  cousin  !"  repeated 
the  haughty  red  man,  "  how  do  you  make  that  out?"  "Oh!  we  are  all 
cousins  from  Adam."  "Ah!  then,  I  am  glad  it  is  no  nearer  !"  was  the 
cutting  reply. 


152  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

discovered  the  trunk  of  a  large  hollow  tree  upon 
the  ground,  into  which  he  crept.  After  lying 
there  several  hours,  his  apprehensions  of  danger 
were  greatly  quickened  by  the  tread  of  foot-steps. 
They  approached,  and  in  a  few  moments  two  or 
three  savages  were  actually  seated  upon  the  log  in 
consultation.  He  heard  the.  bullets  rattle  loosely 
in  their  pouches.  They  actually  looked  into  the 
hollow  trunk,  suspecting  that  he  might  be  there  ; 
but  the  examination  must  have  been  slight,  as  they 
discovered  no  traces  of  his  presence.  The  object 
of  their  search,  however,  in  after-life,  attributed 
his  escape  to  the  labors  of  a  busy  spider,  which, 
after  he  crawled  into  the  log,  had  been  industri- 
ously engaged  in  weaving  a  web  over  the  en- 
trance. Perceiving  this,  the  Indians  supposed,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  that  the  fugitive  could  not 
have  entered  there.  This  is  rather  a  fine-spun  the- 
ory of  his  escape  ;  but  it  was  enough  for  him  that 
he  was  not  discovered.  After  remaining  in  his 
place  of  concealment  as  long  as  nature  could  en- 
dure the  confinement,  Hopkins  crept  forth,  wan- 
dering in  the  wilderness  without  food,  until  he  was 
on  the  point  of  famishing.  In  this  situation, 
knowing  that  he  could  but  die,  he  cautiously  stole 
down  into  the  valley  again,  whence  five  days  be- 
fore he  had  fled.  All  was  desolation  there.  The 
crops  were  destroyed,  the  cattle  gone,  and  the 
smouldering  brands  and  embers  were  all  that  re- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  153 

mained  of  the  houses.  The  Indians  had  retired, 
and  the  stillness  of  death  prevailed.  He  roamed 
about  for  hours  in  search  of  something  to  satisfy 
the  cravings  of  nature,  fording  or  swimming  the 
river  twice  in  his  search.  At  length  he  discover- 
ed the  carcass  of  a  wild  turkey,  shot  on  the 
morning  of  the  massacre,  but  which  had  been 
left  in  the  flight.  He  quickly  stripped  the  bird 
of  its  feathers,  although  it  had  become  some- 
what offensive  by  lying  in  the  sun,  dressed 
and  washed  it  in  the  river,  and  the  first  meal  he 
made  therefrom  was  ever  afterward  pronounced 
the  sweetest  of  his  life.  Upon  the  strength  of 
this  turkey,  with  such  roots  and  herbs  as  he  could 
gather  in  his  way,  he  travelled  until, — after  incred- 
ible hardships,  his  clothes  being  torn  from  his  limbs 
in  the  thickets  he  was  obliged  to  encounter,  and 
his  body  badly  lacerated, — he  once  more  found 
himself  among  the  dwellings  of  civilized  men.* 

But  this  out-break  of  the  Indians  put  an  end 
to  their  own  residence  in  Wyoming.  On  the  re- 
ceipt of  the  tidings  at  Philadelphia,  Governor 
Hamilton  directed  Colonel  Boyd,  of  Harrisburgh, 
to  march  at  the  head  of  a  detachment  of  militia, 
and  disperse  the  authors  of  the  massacre.  The 
savages,  however,  had  anticipated  the  arrival  of 

*  The  facts  of  this  little  incidental  narrative,  were  communicated  to  the 
author  by  Mr.  G.  F.  Hopkins,  printer,  of  New-York,  and  a  nephew  of  the 
sufferer,  who  died  at  Pittsfield,  (Mass.)  at  a  very  advanced  age,  about 
thirty  years  ago.    He  was  a  very  respectable  man. 


154  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

the  troops, — those  of  them  at  least  who  had  par- 
ticipated in  the  murderous  transaction, — and  with- 
drawn themselves  farther  up  the  river,  to  the  In- 
dian settlements  in  the  vicinity  of  Tioga.  The 
Moravian  Indians  resident  there,  who  had  taken 
no  part  in  the  massacre,  removed  toward  the  Del- 
aware, to  Gnaddenhutten.  But  their  residence  at 
this  missionary  station  was  short.  The  horrible 
massacre  of  the  Canestogoe  Indians,  residing  upon 
their  own  reservation  in  the  neighborhood  of  Lan- 
caster, in  December  of  the  same  year,  by  the  in- 
furiated religious  zealots  of  Paxtang  and  Donne- 
gal,  filled  them  with  alarm.  They  repaired  to 
Philadelphia  for  protection  ;  and  as  will  presently 
appear,  were  only  with  great  difficulty  saved  from 
the  hatchets  of  a  lawless  band  of  white  men,  far 
more  savage  than  themselves. 

The  transaction  here  referred  to  was  a  most  ex- 
traordinary event,  the  record  of  which  forms  one 
of  the  darkest  pages  of  Pennsylvanian  history.  It 
took  place  in  December  1763.  It  was  during  that 
year  that  the  great  Pontiac  conceived  the  design, 
like  another  Philip,  of  driving  the  Europeans  from 
the  continent.  Forming  a  league  between  the 
great  interior  tribes  of  Indians,  and  summoning 
their  forces  in  unison  upon  the  war-path,  he  at- 
tacked the  garrisons  upon  the  frontiers,  and  the 
lakes,  which  were  simultaneously  invested,  and 
many  of  them  taken.     The  borders  of  Pennsylva- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  155 

nia,  Maryland,  and  Virginia,  were  again  ravaged 
by  scalping  parties,  and  the  frontier  settlers  of 
Pennsylvania  in  particular  suffered  with  great  se- 
verity. But  although  the  fragments  of  the  Dela- 
wares  and  Six  Nations  still  residing  in  that  Colo- 
ny did  not  join  in  the  war  of  Pontiac,  yet,  either 
from  ignorance  or  malice,  suspicions  were  excited 
against  one  of  the  Indian  Moravian  communities. 
Availing  themselves  of  this  pretext,  a  number  of 
religionists  in  the  towns  of  Paxtang  and  Donne- 
gal,  excited  to  a  pitch  of  the  wildest  enthusiasm 
by  their  spiritual  teachers,  banded  together  for  the 
purpose  of  exterminating  the  whole  Indian  race. 
Their  pretext  was  the  duty  of  extirpating  the  hea- 
then from  the  earth,  as  Joshua  had  done  of  old, 
that  the  saints  might  possess  the  land.  The  Ca- 
nestogoes  were  the  remains  of  a  small  clan  of  the 
Six  Nations,  residing  upon  their  own  reservation, 
in  the  most  inoffensive  manner,  having  always 
been  friendly  to  the  English.  The  maddened 
zealots  fell  upon  their  little  hamlet  in  the  night, 
when,  as  it  happened,  the  greater  portion  of  them 
were  absent  from  their  homes,  selling  their  little 
wares  among  the  white  people.  Only  three  men, 
two  women  and  a  boy,  were  found  in  their  village. 
These  were  dragged  from  their  beds,  and  stabbed 
and  hatcheted  to  death.  Among  them  was  a  good 
old  chief  named  Shehaes,  who  was  cut  to  pieces  in 
his  bed.  The  dead  were  scalped,  and  their  houses 


156  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

burnt.  This  infamous  procedure  took  place  on 
the  14th  of  the  month. 

Hearing  of  this  deplorable  act,  the  magistrates 
of  Lancaster  collected  the  residue  of  the  helpless 
clan,  men  women  and  children,  and  placed  them 
in  one  of  the  public  buildings  of  the  town  for  their 
protection.  But  on  the  27th,  a  band  of  fifty  of 
the  fanatics  went  openly  into  the  borough,  and 
proceeding  to  the  work-house  where  the  Indians 
had  been  placed,  broke  open  the  doors,  and  with 
fury  in  their  countenances  recommenced  the  work 
of  death.  Nor  did  the  people  of  Lancaster  lift  a 
finger,  or  the  magistrates  interfere,  for  their  de- 
fence. "  When  the  poor  wretches  saw  they  had 
no  protection,  and  that  they  could  not  escape,  and 
being  without  the  least  weapon  of  defence,  they 
divided  their  Httle  families,  the  children  clinging 
to  their  parents ;  they  fell  on  their  faces,  protested 
their  innocence,  declared  their  love  to  the  English, 
and  that,  in  their  whole  lives,  they  had  never  done 
them  any  injury  ;  and  in  this  posture  they  all  re- 
ceived the  hatchet.  Men,  women,  and  children 
— infants  clinging  to  the  breast — were  all  inhu- 
manly butchered  in  cold  blood."* 

But  the  vengeance  of  the  fanatics  was  not  sati- 
ated. Like  the  tigers  of  the  forest,  having  tasted 
blood,  they  became  hungry  for  more  ;  and  having 

*  Proud.    Vide  also  Gordon. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  157 

heard  that  the  fugitives  from  Wyoming,  feeUng 
themselves  unsafe  at  Gnaddenhutten,  had  repaired 
to  Philadelphia,  the  zealots  set  their  faces  in  that 
direction,  and  marched  upon  the  capital  for  the 
avowed  purpose  of  putting  those  Indians  to  death 
also.  Their  numbers  increased  to  an  insurgent  ar- 
my. Great  consternation  prevailed  in  Philadelphia 
on  their  approach.  The  poor  Indians  themselves 
prayed  that  they  might  be  sent  to  England  for 
safety  ;  but  this  could  not  be  done.  An  attempt 
was  then  made  by  the  government  to  send  them 
to  the  Mohawk  country,  for  the  protection  of  Sir 
William  Johnson  ;  but  the  civil  authorities  of  New- 
York  objected,  and  the  fugitives  were  marched 
back  to  Philadelphia.  Whereupon  the  insurgents 
embodied  themselves  again,  and  marched  once 
more  upon  that  capital  in  greater  numbers  than 
before.  Another  season  of  peril  and  alarm  ensued, 
and  the  Governor  hid  himself  away  in  the  house 
of  Doctor  Franklin ;  but  the  legislature  being  in 
session,  and  the  people,  the  Quakers  even  not  ex- 
cepted, evincing  a  proper  spirit  for  the  occasion, 
the  insurgents  were  in  the  end  persuaded  to  listen 
to  the  voice  of  reason,  and  disband  themselves. 
It  is  a  singular  fact,  that  the  actors  in  this  strange 
and  tragic  affair  were  not  of  the  lower  orders  of 
the  people.  They  were  Presbyterians,  comprising 
in  their  ranks  men  of  intelligence,  and  of  so  much 
consideration  that  the  press  dared  not  disclose 
16 


158  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

their  names,  nor  the  government  attempt  their 
punishment.*  It  was  indeed  beheved  by  some, 
that  the  murder  of  the  Indians  was  by  no  means 
the  chief  end  of  their  design  ;  but  that,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  wide-spread  consternation  they  had 
produced,  they  intended  to  overturn  the  govern- 
ment, and  revolutionize  the  colony.f 

After  these  disorders  were  quieted,  and  the  In- 
dian Moravians  had  had  time  to  look  about  for  a 
place  of  retreat,  they  removed  to  a  place  called 
Mahackloosing — or  Machwihilusing — the  Wyalu- 
sing  of  later  times, — situated  upon  the  banks  of 
the  Susquehanna,  sixty  miles  above  Wyoming. 
The  missionaries  had  hastened  to  this  place  before  ; 
but  it  had  been  deserted  in  the  late  war — the  new- 
comers finding  the  old  huts  yet  standing.J  Here 
"they  built  a  considerable  village,  containing  at 
one  period  more  than  thirty  good  log  houses,  with 
shingled  roofs  and  glazed  windows,  a  church  and 
school-house,  not  inferior  to  many  erected  by  weal- 
thy farmers."  They  also  turned  their  attention 
earnestly  to  agricultural  pursuits,  clearing  and  en- 
closing large  tracts  of  upland  and  meadow.  They 
resided  at  this  place  several  years  very  happily ; 
but  were  ultimately  induced  to  join  the  Moravian 
Indians  beyond  the  Ohio.«5> 

*  Proud— Gordon.-  t  Loskiel 

X  Loskiel.  $  Proud— Gordon. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Attem  pt  of  the  Susquehan  na  Company  to  recolonize, — Pennsylvania  cl  aims 
the  territory  again,  and  leases  the  valley  to  Ogden  and  his  associates, — 
Rival  settlements, — Civil  War, — Ogden  besieged, — Arrests  of  the  Con- 
necticut people,— Situation, — Hostilities  resumed,— Ogden  draws  off, — 
The  Colony  advances,— Propositions  for  an  adjustment, — Rejected  by 
Governor  Penn, — Expedition  of  Colonel  Francis,— His  retreat,— Addi- 
tional forces  raised  by  Penn, — Ogden  captures  Colonel  Durkee, — Con- 
necticut settlers  negotiate,  and  leave  the  valley,— Bad  Faith  of  Ogden, 
— Lazarus  Stewart, — Susquehanna  Company  reoccupy  the  valley, — Og- 
den returns  with  forces,— Both  parties  fortify,— Ogden  besieged, — Surren- 
ders,— Penn  applies  to  General  Gage,— Request  denied,— Reinvaded  by 
Ogden,— Yanlcees  taken  by  surprise,— Captured  in  the  field, — Their  fort 
taken,— Arrest  of  Lazarus  Stewart,— Rescued, — Returns  to  Wyoming 
and  recaptures  the  fort,— Ogden  reappears,— Both  parties  fortify, — A  skir- 
mish,— Nathan  Ogden  killed, — Sensation  among  the  Pennsylvanians, — 
Lazarus  Stewart  draws  off,  and  Ogden  retains  the  valley,  and  commen- 
ces planting  a  colony, — Sudden  descent  of  Zebulun  Butler  with  a  strong 
force,— Ogden  again  besieged,— Escapes  to  Philadelphia  by  stratagem  for 
succors, — His  reinforcements  defeated, — Ogden  is  wounded, — '1  he  fort 
surrenders  to  the  Yankees. 

Six  years  intervened  before  the  Susquehanna 
Company  attempted  to  resume  their  operations  in 
the  fair  valley  of  Wyoming.  But  in  the  mean- 
time the  Proprietaries  of  Pennsylvania,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  a  grand  Indian  council  assembled  at 
Fort  Stanwix,  in  the  autumn  of  1768,  had  attempt- 
ed to  strengthen  their  claim  to  the  disputed  terri- 
tory by  a  direct  purchase  from  the  Six  Nations. 


160  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

This  object  was  of  no  difficult  attainment,  as  the 
Indians  might  doubtless  have  been  persuaded  to 
sell  that,  or  almost  any  other  portion  of  disputed 
territory,  as  many  times  over  as  white  purchasers 
could  be  found  to  make  payment.  In  a  word,  the 
Pennsylvanians  were  successful,  and  took  a  deed 
of  the  territory  from  some  of  the  chiefs,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1768. 

But,  nothing  daunted  by  this  movement,  the 
Susquehanna  Company  called  a  meeting,  and  re- 
solved to  resume  the  settlement,  by  throwing  a 
body  of  forty  pioneers  into  the  valley  in  the  month 
of  February  1769,  to  be  followed  by  two  hundred 
more  in  the  Spring.  Indeed  the  association,  in 
order  to  strengthen  their  power  as  well  as  their 
claims,  and  to  expand  their  settlements,  now  ap- 
propriated five  townships,  each  five  miles  square, 
and  divided  into  forty  shares,  as  free  gifts  to  the 
first  forty  settlers  in  each  township.*  Many  parts 
of  the  flats,  or  bottom  lands,  were  of  course  alrea- 
dy clear  of  wood,  and  ready  for  cultivation.  An 
appropriation  of  two  hundred  pounds  was  made 
for  the  purchase  of  agricultural  implements  ;  regu- 
lations for  the  government  of  the  colony  were 
drawn  up,  and  a  committee  appointed  to  carry 
them  into  effect.f 

*  Letter  of  Colonel  Pickering  to  his  son. 

tThis  committee  consisted  of  Isaac  Tripp,  Benjamin  Follet,  John  Jen- 
kins, William  Buck,  and  Benjamin  Shoemaker. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  161 

• 

The  Pennsylvanians,  for  once,  anticipated  the 
people  of  Connecticut.  No  sooner  had  they  heard 
of  the  renewed  movements  of  the  Susquehanna 
Company,  than  they  made  preparations  for  the 
immediate  occupation  of  the  valley  themselves. 
To  this  end,  a  lease  of  the  valley  for  seven  years 
was  given  to  Charles  Stuart,*  Amos  Ogden,  and 
John  Jennings,  conditioned  that  they  should  estab- 
lish a  trading-house,  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
Indians,  and  adopt  the  necessary  measures  for  de- 
fending themselves,  and  those  who  might  proceed 
thither  under  their  lease.  Mr.  Stewart,  a  gentle- 
man of  talents,  enterprise  and  wealth,  had  been 
extensively  and  successfully  engaged  in  taking 
up  and  leasing  lands  under  the  new  purchasers, 
from  the  Indians,  of  the  Pennsylvanians,  and  was 
at  the  time  Deputy  Surveyor  General  of  the  prov- 
ince.    By  him  the  valley  was  divided  and  laid  out 

*  Of  New-Jersey :  afterward  Colonel  Stewart  of  the  continental  army. 
An  early  and  active  promoter  of  the  Revolution,  he  was  among  the  first  of 
his  compatriots  at  a  convention  of  the  leading  gentlemen  of  the  colony  at 
Trenton,  to  take  a  bold  and  decided  stand  against  the  crovi^n  ;  and  on  the 
commencement  of  hostilities,  had  the  command  of  the  second  regiment  of 
the  Jersey  line  tendered  him,  that  of  the  first  being  given  to  Lord  Sterling. 
He  was  shortly  afterward  appointed  by  congress  to  the  staff  of  Washing- 
ton, as  commissary  General  of  Issues,  which  station  he  filled  till  the  termi- 
nation of  the  war. — He  was  a  member  of  the  congress  ;  of  the  convention  ; 
also  of  that  of  1784— 1785  j  and  on  the  organization  of  the  government  un- 
der the  constitution,  was  offered  by  Washington  the  Surveyor  Generalship 
of  the  United  States,  an  appointment  which  he  declined,  chiefly,  from  the 
occupation  of  his  time,  in  the  prosecution  of  what  he  conceived  to  be  the 
legal  and  equitable  claims  of  himself  and  associates  to  the  manors  of  Wy- 
oming. 

16* 


162  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

into  two  manors,  that  portion  of  it  lying  upon  the 
eastern  side,  including  the  Indian  town  of  Wyo- 
ming, being  called  the  "  Manor  of  Stoke,"  and  the 
western  division  the  "  Manor  of  Sunbury."  In 
January,  1769,  the  lessees,  with  a  number  of  Col- 
onists, proceeded  to  the  valley,  took  possession  of 
the  former  Connecticut  improvements,  and  erected 
a  block-house,  for  their  defence,  should  their  title 
and  proceedings  be  disputed.  The  party  of  forty 
from  Connecticut  pressed  close  upon  the  heels  of 
Stewart  and  Ogden,  and  sat  down  before  their  lit- 
tle garrison  on  the  8th  of  February.  It  was  a  close 
investment,  all  intercourse  between  the  besieged 
and  their  friends,  if  they  had  any,  in  the  surround- 
ing country,  being  cut  off.  Having  heard  of  the 
approach  of  the  Connecticut  party,  however, 
Charles  Stewart  and  his  associates  despatched  a 
messenger  to  Governor  Penn,  stating  that  they  had 
but  ten  men  in  the  block-house,  and  requesting 
assistance.  But  after  waiting  a  sufficient  length 
of  time  without  receiving  reinforcements,  the  be- 
sieged had  recourse  to  stratagem  to  accomplish 
what  they  could  not  effect  by  power.  Under  the 
pretext  of  a  consultation,  to  the  end  of  an  amica- 
ble adjustment  of  the  question  of  title,  three  of  the 
Connecticut  party,  viz :  Isaac  Tripp,  Vine  Elder- 
kin,  and  Benjamin  FoUet,  were  induced  to  enter 
the  garrison,  where  they  were  immediately  arres- 
ted b  y  Jennings,  who  was  sheriff  of  Northampton 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  163 

County,  conveyed  to  Easton,  and  there  thrown 
mto  prison.      Their  rescue  would  have  been  at- 
tempted, but  for  the  fear  of  endangering  their  hves. 
However,  the  prisoners  were  accompanied  to  Eas- 
ton  by  the  whole  of  both  parties ;  and  the  key  of 
the  prison  was  scarcely  turned  upon  them  before 
bail  was  given  for  their  good  behaviour,  and  the 
Connecticut  party  retraced  their  steps  to  AVyom- 
ing,  where  their  labors  were  resumed  with  charac- 
teristic energy.     Finding  that  the  numbers  of  the 
emigrants  were  increasing,  Jennings  made  another 
effort  to  arrest  their  persons  and  proceedings  in 
March.     The   posse  of  the  county,  together  with 
I  several  magistrates,  were  ordered  upon  the  service, 

and  they  again  marched  upon  Wyoming  in  an  im- 
posing array.  The  Connecticut  people  had  pre- 
pared a  block-house  hastily  for  defence  ;  but  the 
doors  were  broken  by  Jennings,  who  succeeded  in 
arresting  thirty-one  persons,  all  of  whom,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  who  effected  their  escape  while 
marching  through  a  swamp,  were  taken  to  Easton, 
cast  into  prison  as  before,  —  and  again  admitted 
to  bail,  just  in  season  to  return  once  more  to  Wy- 
oming with  a  party  of  two  hundred  recruits  who 
now  joined  them  from  the  Susquehanna  Company. 
Thus  reinforced,  their  first  work  was  to  build  a 
fort  upon  a  convenient  site,  protected  by  the  river 
on  one  side,  and  a  creek  and  morass  upon  anoth- 
er.    It  was  a  regular  military  defence,  consisting 


'ii 


164  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

of  a  strong  block-house,  surrounded  by  a  rampart 
and  entrenchment.  In  the  immediate  neighbor- 
hood of  the  fortress, — called  Fort  Durkee,  in  hon- 
or of  the  officer  elected  to  its  command,  —  they 
erected  about  thirty  log-houses,  with  loop-holes 
through  which  to  fire  in  the  event  of  an  attack. 
But  they  had  no  immediate  cause  to  try  the  strength 
of  their  defences,  although  Jennings  and  Ogden 
were  at  the  moment  raising  forces  to  march  against 
them.  They  arrived  in  the  valley  on  the  24th  of 
May  ;  but  the  works  of  the  Connecticut  boys  ap- 
peared too  formidable  to  justify  an  attack  by  so 
small  a  number  of  men  as  they  had  the  honor  to 
command.  Jennings  and  Ogden  therefore  return- 
ed to  Easton,  and  reported  to  the  Governor  that 
the  power  of  the  county  was  inadequate  to  the 
task  of  dispossessing  the  Connecticut  settlers,  who 
now  numbered  three  hundred  able-bodied  men. 

For  a  short  season  the  latter  were  left  to  push 
forward  their  improvements  without  molestation, 
during  which  state  of  repose  the  company  com- 
missioned Colonel  Dyer  and  Major  Elderkin  to 
proceed  to  Philadelphia  and  endeavor  to  nego- 
tiate a  compromise  on  the  question  of  title.  But 
the  proposition,  which  was  for  a  reference  of  the 
whole  matter  in  dispute,  either  to  an  arbitrament 
or  a  court  of  law,  was  rejected  by  Governor 
Penn  ;  and  an  armed  force,  under  the  command 
of  Colonel  Francis,  was  detached   to   Wyoming, 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  165 

with  orders  to  demand  a  surrender  of  the  fort  and 
garrison.  The  summons  was  not  obeyed ;  and 
the  Colonel,  as  the  Sheriff  of  Northampton  had 
done  before  him,  after  surveying  the  works,  and 
the  other  preparations  for  his  reception,  should  he 
attempt  an  assault,  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that 
his  force  likewise  was  inadequate  to  the  enterprise. 
He  therefore  retreated,  and  upon  a  representation 
of  the  facts  to  the  Governor,  a  more  formidable 
expedition  was  immediately  set  on  foot.  Mr. 
Sheriff  Jennings  was  directed  to  assemble  the 
power  of  Northampton  county  in  stronger  array 
than  before,  and  to  march  against  the  intruders, 
well  furnished  with  small  arms,  a  four-pounder, 
and  an  abundant  supply  of  fixed  ammunition. 
He  was  carefully  instructed  by  Govenor  Penn, 
however,  to  avoid,  if  possible,  an  effusion  of  blood. 
Having  knowledge  of  the  approach  of  Jennings, 
Ogden,  with  a  band  of  forty  armed  men,  antici- 
pated his  arrival  by  dashing  suddenly  among  the 
houses  of  the  settlement,  and  making  several  pri- 
soners —  among  whom  was  Colonel  Durkee. 
These  he  secured  and  carried  away — thus  weak- 
ening the  forces  of  the  settlers,  and  perchance  dis- 
heartening them  by  the  loss  of  their  principal 
officer.  Durkee  was  taken  to  Philadelphia  and 
closely  imprisoned.  Two  days  after  his  capture, 
Jennings  arrived  before  the  fort  with  two  hundred 
men  in  arms,  and  commenced  a  parley  with  the 


166  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

garrison,  during  which  Ogden  and  his  company 
were  busy  in  driving  away  their  cattle  and  horses 
found  grazing  in  the  fields.  On  the  following 
day  Jennings  commenced  the  erection  of  a  battery 
upon  which  his  ordnance  was  to  be  mounted. 
These  preparations  beginning  to  wear  a  more  se- 
rious aspect,  the  garrison  proposed  a  negociation. 
The  result  was  a  capitulation,  by  which  the  set- 
tlers agreed  to  surrender  the  fort  and  contiguous 
buildings.  All  the  colonists  from  Connecticut, 
but  seventeen,  were  to  return.  These  seven- 
teen men,  with  their  families,  were  to  be  allowed 
to  remain  and  harvest  the  crops  upon  the  ground. 
They  were  likewise  to  hold  possession  of  the  lands 
and  improvements  in  the  name  of  the  Company, 
until  the  pleasure  of  his  Majesty  should  be  known 
in  regurd  to  the  rival  claims  of  the  parties.  The 
articles  of  capitulation,  drawn  out  in  due  form, 
were  carried  into  effect  by  the  settlers  ;  but  Og- 
den behaved  in  bad  faith.  The  people,  with  the 
exception  of  the  seventeen  who  were  to  remain, 
as  before  mentioned,  had  no  sooner  departed  from 
the  valley  than  Ogden  commenced  an  indiscrim- 
inate system  of  plunder.  All  their  live  stock  was 
seized  and  driven  away  ;  their  houses  were  strip- 
ped ;  and,  in  a  word,  deprived  of  the  means  of 
subsistence,  the  seventeen,  with  their  families, 
were  compelled  to  wend  their  way  back  to  Con- 
necticut. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  167 

Early  in  the  ensuing  year,  demonstrations  of  a 
yet  more  belligerent  character  were  put  forth  by 
the  claimants  under  the  Susquehanna  Company. 
It  has  been  noted  at  a  former  page,  that  there  were 
several  share-holders  of  the  Company  residing  in 
Pennsylvania.  In  the  month  of  February,  1770, 
therefore,  a  gentleman,  named  Lazarus  Stewart 
led  a  number  of  men  from  Lancaster  into  the  Wy- 
oming valley,  who  were  joined  on  their  progress 
by  a  body  of  people  from  Connecticut.  They 
were  all  armed,  and  Fort  Durkee,  garrisoned  by 
only  eight  or  ten  men,  was  taken  without  opposi- 
tion. Ogden  himself  was  absent  at  the  time,  and 
the  victors  proceeded  to  his  house  and  captured 
the  piece  of  ordnance  already  mentioned.  On 
hearing  of  these  transactions,  Ogden  hastened 
back  to  Wyoming,  accompanied  by  about  fifty 
men,  by  whom  he  garrisoned  his  own  house,  (a 
formidable  block-house,)  and  commenced  adding 
to  its  strength.  On  the  28th  a  detachment  of  fif- 
ty men  was  sent  against  him,  with  a  view  of  car- 
rying the  stockade  by  assault  and  taking  him  pris- 
oner. He  had  a  deputy  sheriflf  with  him,  however, 
who,  at  the  head  of  a  strong  party,  sallied  out  for 
the  purpose  of  arresting  the  assailants.  A  smart 
skirmish  ensued,  during  which  several  of  the  Con- 
necticut people  were  wounded,  and  one  man  kil- 
led. Finding  that  Ogden's  men  could  fire  upon 
them  from  his  house,  without  exposing  themselves 


M 


168  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

to  danger,  the  Connecticut  people  retreated,  and 
as  Colonel  Durkee  had  returned  from  Philadelphia, 
a  regular  siege  of  Ogden's  fortress  was  determined 
upon.  A  battery  was  erected  over  against  him 
on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river,  upon  which  the 
four-pounder  was  mounted,  and  briskly  played 
upon  Ogden  for  several  days,  without  making 
much  impression  on  his  defences.  Durkee's  men 
then  determined  to  bring  the  enemy  to  closer  quar- 
ters, for  which  purpose  they  were  arranged  in  three 
divisions,  and  marched  out  with  drums  beating 
and  colors  flying,  to  within  musket  shot  of  the 
block-house.  Three  breast-works  were  rapidly 
constructed,  from  which  the  firing  was  again  com- 
menced, and  briskly  returned.  After  five  days  of 
desultory  firing  on  both  sides,  a  party  of  the  be- 
siegers advanced  under  Ogden's  guns,  with  great 
intrepidity,  and  set  fire  to  one  of  his  outworks, 
which  was  consumed,  together  with  a  large  quan- 
tity of  goods  contained  therein.  Ogden  had  again 
called  upon  Governor  Penn  for  reinforcements  ; 
but  as  these  were  not  forthcoming,  the  contest  re- 
laxed. Colonel  Durkee  despatched  a  flag  to  Og- 
den, requesting  a  conference,  which  was  acceded 
to,  and  he  surrendered  upon  terms  similar  to  those 
which  had  been  granted  to  the  Connecticut  people 
the  season  before.  He  had  no  improvements  or 
land  to  protect ;  but  the  stipulation  was  that  he 
should  withdraw  himself  and  all  his  party  from  the 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  169 

valley,  excepting  six  men,  who  were  to  remain  to 
guard  his  house  and  preserve  his  property.  After 
his  retreat,  however,  the  evil  which  he  had  done 
the  people  from  Connecticut,  the  season  before, 
was  requited  upon  his  own  head.  His  property 
was  seized  by  the  Yankees,  and  his  house  burnt.* 
It  was  believed  that  Governor  Penn  would  have 
attempted  his  relief  but  for  his  own  unquiet  posi- 
tion just  at  that  time — the  Boston  massacre  having 
given  an  impulse  to  the  spirit  which  not  long  af- 
terward broke  forth  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 
Thus  situated,  the  Governor  called  upon  General 
Gage,  then  commanding  the  forces  of  the  crown 
at  New-York ;  but  the  General  replied  that  he 
thought  the  character  of  the  dispute  was  such  that 
it  would  be  highly  improper  for  the  King's  troops 
to  interfere. 

Failing  thus  in  the  application  for  the  aid  of  hi^ 
majesty's  troops.  Governor  Penn  issued  another 
proclamation  on  the  28th  of  June,  forbidding  any 
settlers  from  planting  themselves  down  upon  the 
disputed  territory,  unless  by  consent  of  the  lessees, 
Stewart  and  Ogden.  The  energies  of  the  govern- 
ment were  likewise  put  in  exercise  to  raise  a  force 
adequate  to  the  work  of  carrying  the  proclamation 

*  Among  the  prisoners  found  in  the  block-house  after  the  capitulation, 
were  eight  men  from  New-England,  and  three  Germans,  who  had  never 
before  been  in  Wyoming,  and  who  mistook  Ogden's  house  for  the  fort  of 
the  opposite  party.  The  number  of  killed  and  wounded  during  the  siege 
is  not  known. — Chapman. 

17 


170  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

into  effect.     It  appears  to  have  been  a  hard  matter, 
however,  to  enUst  troops  for  the  service.     The 
summer  passed  away  before  the  expedition  was 
on  foot,  and  the  entire  body  numbered  only  one 
hundred  and  forty  men.*     But  the  deficiency  of 
numbers  was  made  up  by  the  courage  and  skill 
of  their  leader,  who  was  none  other  than  Captain 
Ogden  himself.     Taking  the  route  of  the  Lehigh, 
and  the  old  "Indian  Walk,"  this  enterprising  man 
arrived  with  his  forces  upon  the  crest  of  the  moun- 
tain overlooking  the  settlement,  on  the  22d  of 
September.     He  was  well  aware  that  his  band  of 
one  hundred  and  forty  men  would  stand  but  a 
poor  chance  with  the  Connecticut  boys,  unless  he 
could  take  them  by  surprise.     To  this  end,  there- 
fore, he  had  advanced  with  so  much  circumspec- 
tion that  the  colonists  were  entirely  ignorant  of 
his  approach.     By  the  aid  of  his  telescope  he  ob- 
served the  movements  of  the  settlers  in  the  mor- 
ning, until,  utterly  unconscious  of  danger,    they 
went  forth  in  small  squads,  to  engage  in  the  labors 
of  their  field.    Then  separating  his  own  men  into 
divisions  equal  to  the  number  of  the  laboring  par- 
ties, Ogden  descended   into  the  valley,  and  stole 
upon  them  with  such  admirable  caution,  that  many 
of  them  were  made  prisoners  almost  before  they 

*Colcnel  Pickering  attributes  the  difficulty  of  raising  troops  to  inarch 
against  Wyoming,  on  every  application,  not  only  to  the  unpopularity  of 
the  Proprietaries,  but  to  the  influence  of  the  Quakers,  to  whom  war  was 
always  abhorrent.    Vide,  letter  to  his  son. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  171 

knew  of  their  danger.     Those  who  escaped  ran 
to  the  fort  and  gave  the  alarm.     The  women  and 
children  from   the   houses  immediately   collected 
within  the  fort  for  safety,  while  Ogden  drew  off 
into  a  gorge  of  the  mountain,  where  his  prisoners 
were  made  secure  and  sent  off  to  Easton  under  a 
strong  escort.     Within  the  garrison  all  was  confu- 
sion during  the  day,  while  Ogden,  yet  too  weak 
to  hazard  another  attack,  kept  in  his  concealment, 
trusting  to  chance  or  stratagem  to  direct  his  next 
movement.     Every  thing  worked  entirely  to  his 
satisfaction.     The  garrison,  finding  that  they  had 
provisions  for  a  siege,  resolved  to  send  an  express, 
under  cover  of  the  night,  to  their  brother  colonists 
of  Coshuntunk  for  aid.     But  the  messengers  de- 
tached  upon  this  service,  supposing  that  Ogden 
would  guard  the  path  leading  to  the  Delaware 
colony,  resolved  upon  taking  a  route  less  exposed 
— and  by  doing  so  they  threw  themselves  directly 
into  his   camp.     From  these  unfortunate  messen- 
gers Ogden  extracted   such   information  touching 
the  situation  of  affairs  within  the  fortress,  as  de- 
termined him  at  once  to  make  a  night  attack.     It 
was  a  wise  resolution.     Crowded  with  men,  wo- 
men, and  children,  the   little  fort  was  in  no  con- 
dition for  repelling  an  assault,  and  the  result  was, 
a  surprise  and  complete  success.     The  movements 
of  the  assailants  were  conducted  with  so  much 
secrecy,  that  the  sentinel  was  knocked  down  be- 


172  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

fore  he  saw  aught  of  alarm  ;  the  door  of  the  block- 
house was  easily  forced ;  and  after  a  short  affray, 
in  which  the  belligerents  were  tumbhng  over  wo- 
men and  children,  and  during  which  several  persons 
of  the  garrison  were  killed,  the  fort  surrendered. 
In  the  course  of  the  melee.  Captain  Zebulon  But- 
ler would  have  been  killed  by  a  bayonet,  but  for 
the  interposition  of  Captain  Craig,  one  of  Ogden's 
officers,  who  arrested  the  weapon,  and  prevented 
farther  bloodshed.  The  greater  portion  of  the 
prisoners  were  sent  to  Easton  for  imprisonment, 
while  Butler  and  a  few  of  the  chief  men  were  or- 
dered to  Philadelphia.  Ogden  then  plundered  the 
fort,  and  all  the  houses  of  the  settlement,  of  what- 
ever he  could  find  of  value,  and  withdrew  to  the 
larger  settlements  beyond  the  mountains — leaving 
a  garrison  to  retain  possession  of  the  fort  during 
the  winter. 

But  it  was  shortly  determined  by  the  fortunes 
of  war,  that  this  oft-contested  position  should 
again  change  hands.  After  the  burning  of  Og- 
den's house,  as  already  mentioned,  warrants  were 
issued  by  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Pennsylvania,  directing  the  arrest  of  Lazarus 
Stewart,  Zebulon  Butler,  and  Lazarus  Young, 
for  the  crime  of  arson.  Stewart  was  taken  at 
Lebanon  ;  but  some  of  his  partizans  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, hearing  of  his  arrest,  immediately  re- 
paired thither  for  his  rescue.     On  their  approach 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  173 

he  knocked  down  the  officer  in  whose  charge  he 
had  been  placed,  and  joined  his  friends,  whom  he 
shortly  led  back  to  Wyoming,  though,  as  it  would 
appear,  in  profound  secrecy.  Meantime,  as  the 
settlers  from  Connecticut  had  been  completely 
dispersed  by  Ogden  in  the  autumn,  the  garrison 
left  by  him  at  Fort  Durkee  saw  no  necessity  for 
keeping  an  over-vigilant  watch.  The  result  of 
their  negligence  should  serve  as  a  caution  to  sol- 
diers as  well  in  peace  as  in  war  ;  since  it  happen- 
ed that  at  about  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
December  ISth,  this  little  isolated  garrison  was 
awakened  from  a  deep  and  quiet  slumber  by  an 
unceremonious  visit  from  Stewart,  at  the  head  of 
twenty-three  Lancastrians,  and  half  a  dozen  Con- 
necticut boys,  who  had  already  taken  possession 
of  the  fort,  and  were  shouting  "  Huzzah  for  King 
George  !"  The  garrison  consisted  of  but  eigh- 
teen men,  exclusive  of  several  women  and  chil- 
dren. Six  of  the  former  leaped  from  the  parapet 
and  escaped  naked  to  the  woods.  The  residue 
were  taken  prisoners ;  but  were  subsequently 
driven  from  the  valley,  after  being  relieved  of  such 
of  their  movables  as  the  victors  thought  worth  the 
taking.  Stewart  and  his  men  remained  in  the 
fort. 

These  bold  and    lawless  exploits    of   Stewart 
created    a  strong  sensation   in  the  minds  of  the 

Proprietaries'  government.     Another  warrant  for 

#17 


174  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

his  arrest  was  issued  by  the  Supreme  Court, 
and  the  Sheriff  of  Northampton  was  directed  to 
proceed  with  the  power  of  his  county  once 
more  to  Wyoming,  and  execute  the  writ.  He 
arrived  before  the  fort  with  his  forces  on  Sat- 
urday the  18th  of  January,  1771,  and  demanded 
admittance,  which  was  refused — Stewart  declar- 
ing that  Wyoming  was  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
Connecticut,  to  whose  laws  and  civil  officers  only 
he  owed  obedience.  The  parley  continued  until 
nightfall,  when  the  sheriff  retired  to  a  new  block- 
house which  Amos  Ogden  and  his  brother  Nathan 
with  their  followers  were  building.  This  work 
was  completed  on  Sunday  ;  and  on  Monday  Na- 
than Ogden  accompanied  the  sheriff  and  his  posse 
once  more  in  front  of  Fort  Durkee,  to  demand  the 
surrender  of  Stewart.  Another  refusal  ensued, 
whereupon  Ogden  commenced  firing  upon  the 
fort,  which  was  promptly  returned.  Ogden  fell 
dead,  and  several  of  his  men  were  wounded.  The 
body  being  secured,  the  party  returned  to  the 
block-house,  and  the  residue  of  the  day  was  occu- 
pied by  Amos  Ogden  and  the  sheriff  in  devising 
what  next  was  to  be  done.  But  the  entire  aspect 
of  the  siege  was  changed  the  ensuing  night,  by 
the  silent  evacuation  of  the  fort  by  Stewart  and 
forty  of  his  men,  leaving  only  twelve  men  behind, 
who  quietly  surrendered  to  the  sheriff  the  next 
day,  and  were  marched  across  the  mountains  to 


I 


HISTO|lY   OF    WYOMING.  175 

Easton.  Amos  Ogden  remained  in  the  fort,  and 
persuaded  many  of  his  former  associates  again  to 
join  him,  and  attempt  once  more  to  colonize  this 
vale  of  beauty  and  trouble.  The  death  of  Nathan 
Ogden  was  regarded  by  the  authorities  of  Penn- 
sylvania as  the  greatest  outrage  that  had  thus  far 
marked  this  most  singular  and  obstinate  contest ; 
and  a  reward  of  three  hundred  pounds  was  offered 
for  the  apprehension  of  Lazarus  Stewart.  But  he 
was  not  taken. 

The  valley  now  had  rest  for  the  comparatively 
long  period  of  six  months,  during  which  time  the 
settlers  of  Ogden  had  increased  to  the  number  of 
eighty-two  persons,  including  women  and  children. 
Their  repose  and  their  agricultural  occupations 
were,  however,  suddenly  interrupted  on  the  6th  of 
July,  by  the  descent  from  the  mountains  of  sev- 
enty armed  men  from  Connecticut,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Captain  Zebulon  Butler,  who  had  been 
joined  by  Lazarus  Stewart  at  the  head  of  another 
party.  There  object  was  to  regain  the  possession 
of  the  valley,  and  they  set  themselves  at  work  like 
men  who  were  in  earnest.  During  the  season  of 
repose  which  Ogden  had  enjoyed,  he  had  aban- 
doned Fort  Durkee,  and  built  another  and  stronger 
defence,  which  he  called  Fort  Wyoming.  The 
forces  of  Butler  and  Stewart  were  rapidly  aug- 
mented by  recruits  from  Connecticut ;  and  several 
military  works  were  commenced  by  the  besiegers, 


176  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

to  hasten  the  reduction  of  Ogden's  garrison.  For 
this  purpose  two  redoubts  were  thrown  up,  one  of 
them  upon  the  bank  below  Fort  Wyoming,  and 
the  other  upon  a  bold  eminence  above,  projecting 
almost  into  the  river,  and  entirely  commanding  the 
channel.  Two  entrenchments  were  likewise  open- 
ed, and  the  fort  was  so  completely  invested  that 
communication  with  the  surrounding  country  was 
entirely  cut  off.  But  Ogden's  garrison  was  well 
supplied  with  provisions  and  ammunition  ;  and  his 
work  too  strong  to  be  taken  without  artillery. 
Thus  circumstanced,  he  conceived  the  bold  design 
of  escaping  from  the  fort  by  stratagem,  and  pro- 
ceeding in  person  to  Philadelphia  for  reinforce- 
ments— instructing  his  troops  in  any  event  to  re- 
tain the  post  until  his  return.  His  plan  was  exe- 
cuted with  equal  courage  and  skill.  On  the  night 
of  July  1 2th  he  made  up  a  light  bundle  to  float 
upon  the  surface  of  the  river,  upon  which  he  se- 
cured his  hat.  Connecting  this  bundle  with  his 
body  by  a  cord  of  several  yards  in  length,  he-drop- 
ped gently  into  the  stream  and  floated  down 
with  the  current — the  bundle,  which  presented 
much  the  most  conspicuous  object,  being  intended 
to  draw  the  fire  should  it  be  discovered.  It  was 
discovered  by  the  sentinels,  and  a  brisk  fire  direct- 
ed upon  it  from  three  redoubts.  But  as  it  appear- 
ed to  hold  the  even  tenor  of  its  way  without  inter- 
ruption from  the  bullets,  the  firing  ceased,  and  the 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  177 

bundle  and  its  owner  escaped — the  latter  untouch- 
ed, but  the  former  and  less  sensitive  object  pierc- 
ed with  several  bullets. 

John  Penn  having  retired  from  the  colony,  the 
office  of  the   Executive   had   now  once  more  de- 
volved upon  the  Honorable  James  Hamilton,  Pres- 
ident of  the  Council.     Ogden  arrived  at  Philadel- 
phia without  delay,  and  on  a  representation  of  the 
situation  of  affairs  at  Wyoming,   vigorous  efforts 
were  set  on  foot  for  the  succour  of  the  besieged. 
A  detatchment  of  one  hundred  men  was  ordered 
to  be  raised  to  march  upon  the  rebellious  settlers, 
with  the  sheriff  of  Northampton,  but  under  the  com- 
mand of  Colonel  Asher  Clayton.    The  detachment 
was  to  be  divided  into  two  companies,  the  one 
commanded  by  Captain  Joseph   Morris,  and  the 
other   by  Captain    John   Dick.      They   were   to 
march  to  the  scene  of  action  by  different  routes, 
and  at  different  times.     But,  as  before,  great  dif- 
ficulty was  experienced  in  raising  the  men  ;  and 
Captain  Dick,  who  was  to  march  first,  was  com- 
pelled to  advance  with  only  thirty-six  men,  en- 
cumbered by  pack-horses  and  provisions  not  only 
for  the  whole  division,  but  also  for  the  relief  of  the 
besieged.     The  Connecticut  forces,  however,  al- 
though  maintaining  the  siege  closely,  were    too 
vigilant  to  be  taken  by  surprise.     They  had  be- 
come aware  of  Ogden's  escape  and  movements, 
and   were  apprised   of  the   advance  of  Captain 


173  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

Dick,  for  whose  reception  every  needful  prepara- 
tion was  made.  Suddenly,  therefore,  on  ap- 
proaching the  fort  he  was  to  relieve,  he  found 
himself  in  the  midst  of  an  ambuscade.  At  the 
first  fire  his  men  ran  to  the  fort  for  protection,  but 
sixteen  of  them  together  with  the  entire  stock  of 
provisions,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Connecticut 
forces.  Ogden  was  of  the  number  who  succeeded 
in  entering  the  fort,  as  also  did  Colonel  Clayton. 
This  affair  happened  on  the  30th  of  July.  Elated 
by  their  success,  the  assailants  now  pressed  the 
siege  more  closely  than  before,  until  the  10th  of 
August,  keeping  up  a  daily  fire  whenever  any  per- 
son of  the  garrison  appeared  in  view. 

On  the  11th  Captain  Butler  sent  a  flag  demand- 
ing a  surrender ;  but  as  the  besieged  had  contri- 
ved to  despatch  another  messenger  to  Philadelphia, 
with  an  account  of  Dick's  misfortune,  and  praying 
for  farther  assistance,  and  as  the  government  was 
endeavoring  to  raise  and  send  forward  another 
body  of  one  hundred  men,  they  refused  the  sum- 
mons, and  the  firing  was  resumed.  Butler  had  no 
artillery,  and  a  wooden  cannon  was  constructed 
from  a  gnarled  log  of  pepperidge,  by  a  colonist 
named  Carey,  and  mounted  upon  his  battery. 
But  it  burst  asunder  at  the  second  discharge. 
Still,  the  contest  was  closely  maintained  until 
the  14th,  when,  having  been  long  upon  short 
allowance,  disappointed  in  not  receiving  the  prom- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  179 

ised  reinforcements,  and  their  provisions  being 
entirely  exhausted,  the  garrison  surrendered.  The 
articles  of  capitulation  were  signed  by  Zebulon 
Butler,  Lazarus  Stewart  and  John  Smith,  on  the 
part  of  the  besiegers,  and  by  Colonel  Asher  Clay- 
ton, Joseph  Morris  and  John  Dick,  in  behalf  of 
the  Proprietaries.  The  stipulations  were,  "  that 
twenty-three  men  might  leave  the  fort  armed, 
and  with  the  remainder  unarmed,  might  proceed 
unmolested  to  their  respective  habitations ;  that 
the  men  having  families  might  abide  on  the  deba- 
teable  land  for  two  weeks,  and  might  remove  their 
effects  without  interruption  ;  and  that  the  sick  and 
wounded  might  retain  their  nurses,  and  have  leave 
to  send  for  a  physician."* 

It  afterward  appeared  that  at  the  time  of  the 
surrender,  a  detachment  of  sixty  men  had  arrived 
within  ten  miles  of  the  fort,  commanded  by  Cap- 
tain Ledlie  ;  but  having  heard  of  the  surrender, 
the  Captain  wisely  concluded  to  make  a  different 
disposition  of  his  company.  Numbers  of  the  gar- 
rison were  wounded  during  the  siege,  among 
whom  was  Amos  Ogden,  severely.  While  he  was 
leaning  upon  the  arm  of  one  of  his  subalterns, 
William  Ridyard,  the  latter  was  struck  by  a  ball, 
and  killed  instantly.  The  loss  of  the  Connecticut 
forces,  in  killed  and  wounded,  was  a  matter  which 
appears  not  to  have  been  divulged.     By  the  terms 

♦Gordon. 


180  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

of  the  capitulation,  Ogden  and  his  party  were  all 
to  remove  from  Wyoming.* 

In  the  month  of  September  following,  Mr.  Ham- 
ilton gave  a  detailed  account  of  these  proceedings 
to  the  legislature — informing  that  body  that  the 
intruders  had  burnt  the  block-house,  and  were  for- 
tifying themselves  upon  a  more  advantageous  po- 
sition. It  was  determined  by  the  council  that  a 
correspondence  should  be  opened  with  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Connecticut  upon  the  subject,  which  was 
accordingly  done.  The  President  informed  Gov- 
ernor Trumbull  that  the  intruders  had  assumed  to 
act  under  the  authority  of  the  state  of  Connecti- 
cut. The  latter  replied  cautiously,  denying  that 
the  Connecticut  people  were  acting  under  any  di- 
rections from  him,  or  from  the  General  Assembly — 
neither  of  whom  would  countenance  any  acts  of 
violence  for  the  maintenance  of  any  supposed 
rights  of  the  Susquehanna  Company. 

Thus  closed  the  operations  of  the  respective 
parties  for  the  year  1771.  The  Connecticut  colo- 
nists increased  so  rapidly,  and  prepared  themselves 
so  amply  for  defence,  that  the  Pennsylvania  forces 
were  all  withdrawn,  and  the  Susquehanna  Com- 
pany left  in  the  quiet  possession  of  the  valley. 

*  Gordon  asserts  that  during  this  oeipe,  Butler  proposed  to  Colonel  Clay- 
ton that  the  rights  of  the  respective  claimants  should  be  determined  by 
combat,  between  thirty  men  to  be  chosen  from  each  side.  But  the  propo- 
•ition  was  rejected. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Government  of  Wyoming— Thoroughly  democratic,— Attempted  media- 
tion with  the  Pennsylvanians — Failure — Opinions  of  English  counsel, — 
Connecticut  asserts  jurisdiction, — Opposition  of  Governor  Penn,— Pro- 
clamations,— Season  of  repose, — Another  Civil  War, — Destruction  of  the 
Connecticut  settlement  on  the  West  Branch,— Interposition  of  Con- 
gress,— Not  heeded, — Expedition  and  repulse  of  Colonel  Plunkett, — Re- 
linquishment of  the  contest, — War  of  the  Revolution, — Letting  loose  of 
the  Indians, — Defenceless  situation  of  Wyoming, — Invasion  by  the  lo- 
ries and  Indians, — Hasty  preparations  for  defence, — The  colonists  re- 
solve to  attack, — The  Battle  and  Massacre, — The  Capitulation, — Rava- 
ging of  the  valley, — Vindication  of  Brant, — Cruelties  of  the  tories, — Flight 
of  the  people, — Vindication  of  Colonel  Zebulon  Butler, — His  character, — 
Vindication  of  Colonel  Dennison, — Captain  Spalding, — Second  invasion, 
— Affair  of  Colonel  Powell, — Sullivan's  Expedition,— Subsequent  battles 
and  skirmishes  with  the  Indians. 

Thus  far  the  government  of  the  Connecticut 
settlers — that  is  to  say,  all  the  government  that 
was  exercised, — had  been  of  a  voluntary  and  mil- 
itary character.  But  the  cessation  of  all  opposition 
to  the  proceedings  of  the  Susquehanna  Company, 
for  the  time,  on  the  part  of  Pennsylvania,  rendered 
the  longer  continuancie  of  martial  law  inexpedient, 
while  by  the  rapid  increase  of  the  population  it 
became  necessary  that  some  form  of  civil  govern- 
ment should  be  adopted.  The  increasing  irritation 
existing  between  the  parent  government  and  the 
colonies,  already  foreshadowing  an  approaching 
18 


182  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

appeal  to  the  ultima  ratio  regum,  had  taught  the 
directors  of  the  company  that  a  charter  for  a  new 
and  distinct  colonial  government  from  the  crown, 
was  not  to  be  expected.  In  this  exigency,  the 
company  applied  to  the  General  Assembly  of  Con- 
necticut, to  have  their  Wyoming  settlements  taken 
under  the  protection  of  the  colony  until  the  plea- 
sure of  his  majesty  should  be  known.  But  the 
General  Assembly  was  in  no  haste  to  extend  its 
gegis  over  so  broad  a  territory,  at  so  great  a  dis- 
tance from  home.*  They  therefore  advised  the 
company  in  the  first  instance  to  attempt  an  ami- 
cable adjustment  of  their  difficulties  with  the  Pro- 
prietaries of  Pennsylvania ;  offering  to  undertake 
the  negotiation  in  their  behalf.  In  case  of  a  fail- 
ure to  obtain  a  just  and  honorable  arrangement, 
the  General  Assembly  next  suggested  a  reference 
of  the  whole  subject  to  the  king  in  council.  Mean- 
time, while  they  wished  the  colony  God  speed, 
they  advised  them  to  govern  themselves  by  them- 
selves, in  the  best  manner  they  could. 

Pursuant  to  this  advice,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
valley  proceeded  to  elect  a  government  of  their 
own ;  and  the  institutions  established  by  them 
were  the  most  thoroughly  democratic,  probably,  of 
any  government  that  has  ever  existed  elsewhere 

♦  The  territory  claiitind  by  the  Susquehanna  Company,  extended  one 
hundred  milea  north  and  south,  and  one  hundred  and  ten  miles  west  of  the 
river. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  183 

among  civilized  men.  "  They  laid  out  townships, 
founded  settlements,  erected  fortifications,  levied 
and  collected  taxes,  passed  laws  for  the  direction 
of  civil  suits,  and  for  tlie  punishment  of  crimes 
and  misdemeanors,  established  a  militia,  and  pro- 
vided for  the  common  defence  and  general  welfare 
of  the  colony."*  The  supreme  legislative  power 
was  vested  directly  in  the  people,  not  by  represen- 
tation, but  to  be  exercised  by  themselves,  in  their 
primary  meetings  and  sovereign  capacity.  A  ma- 
gistracy was  appointed,  and  all  the  necessary  ma- 
chinery for  the  government  of  towns,  according  to 
the  New-England  pattern,  organized  and  put  in 
motion.  Three  courts  were  instituted,  all  having 
civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  ;  but  the  Court  of 
Appeals,  called  the  Supreme  Court,  to  which  every 
case  might  be  carried,  was  formed,  like  their  legis- 
lature, of  the  people  themselves  in  solemn  assem- 
bly convened. 

Under  this  government  the  people  lived  very 
happily,  and  the  colony  advanced  with  signal  pros- 
perity for  two  years.  During  this  time  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  of  Connecticut  had  made  an  honest 
effort  to  negotiate  a  settlement  between  the  Com- 
pany and  the  Proprietaries  of  Pennsylvania,  but 
in  vain.  An  able  commission  had  been  sent  to 
Philadelphia,  consisting  of  Colonel  Eliphalet  Dyer, 

*  Chapman. 


184  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

Doctor  Johnson  and  J.  Strong  ;  but  Governor  Penn 
would  not  listen  to  their  propositions,  although 
they  were  of  the  most  equitable  description.  Upon 
this  refusal,  even  to  acknowledge  the  commission, 
the  General  assembly  caused  a  case  to  be  made  up 
and  transmitted  to  England  for  the  ablest  legal 
opinions  that  could  be  obtained.  This  case  was 
submitted  to  Edward,  afterward  Lord  Thurlow, 
Alexander  Wedderburn,  Richard  Jackson,  and  J. 
Dunning, — all  famous  for  their  learning  in  the 
law,  who  gave  a  united  opinion  in  favor  of  the 
Company.  Thus  fortified,  the  General  Assembly 
of  Connecticut  took  higher  ground,  and  perceiv- 
ing how  greatly  the  colony  was  flourishing,  in 
October,  1773,  they  passed  a  resolution  asserting 
their  claim  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  territory,  and 
their  determination  in  some  proper  way  to  support 
the  claim.''^  The  Company  now  renewed  their 
application  to  be  taken  into  the  Colony  of  Con- 
necticut, in  which  request  the  General  Assembly 
acquiesced,  and  the  entire  territory  was  erected 
into  a  chartered  town,  called  Westmoreland,  and 
attached  to  the  county  of  Litchfield.  The  laws 
of  Connecticut  were  extended  over  the  settlement ; 
representatives  from  Westmoreland  were  admitted 
to  sit  in  the  General  Assembly  ;f  and  Zebulon 
Butler  and  Nathan  Denniston  were  regularly  com- 

♦  Trumbull,  f  Idem. 


HISTORY    or    WYOMING.  185 

missioned  justices  of  the  peace.  All  necessary  re- 
gulations for  the  due  administration  of  the  local 
affairs  of  the  settlements  were  made ;  new  town- 
ships were  opened  and  entered  upon  by  emigrants, 
and  the  colony  advanced  with  unprecedented 
prosperity.  Governor  Penn  and  his  Council  be- 
held these  movement's  with  high  displeasure,  and 
sundry  proclamations  were  issued  forbidding  the 
people  to  obey  the  laws  and  authorities  of  Con- 
necticut ;  but  these  paper  missives  were  no  more 
regarded  than  would  have  been  an  equal  number 
of  vermilion  edicts  from  the  Emperor  of  China. 

Two  years  more  of  repose  were  enjoyed  by  the 
colonists  of  the  Company,  during  which  they  flour- 
ished to  a  degree  that  could  scarcely  have  been 
anticipated  by  their  principals.  The  valley  was 
laid  out  into  townships  five  miles  square,  and  un- 
der the  hand  of  industry,  the  teeming  soil  soon 
made  it  to  smile  in  beauty  like  a  little  paradise. 
The  town  immediately  adjoining  the  Wyoming 
Fort,  was  planted  by  Colonel  Durkee,  and  named 
WiLKESBARRE,  iu  houor  of  Johu  Wilkes  and  Col- 
onel Barre,  as  heretofore  mentioned.  But  in  the 
autumn  of  1775,  just  at  the  moment  when  the 
Hercules  of  the  new  world  was  grappling  with  the 
giant  power  of  Great  Britain,  the  torch  of  civil 
war  was  again  lighted  by  the  people  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. Among  the  settlements  of  the  Connecticut 
people,  which  had  been  pushed  beyond  the  con- 
18* 


186  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

fines  of  the  valley  of  Wyoming,  was  one  upon  the 
West  Branch  of  the  Susquehanna,  uniting  with 
the  main  stream  at  Northumberland,  about  sixty 
miles  below.  On  the  28th  of  September,  1775, 
this  plantation  was  attacked  by  a  body  of  the 
Northumberland  militia,  who,  after  killing  one  man, 
and  wounding  several  others,  made  prisoners  of 
the  residue  of  the  settlers,  and  conducted  them 
to  Sunbury,  where  they  were  thrown  into  prison. 
The  tedium  and  vexation  of  their  confinement 
was  measurably  relieved  for  a  season,  however, 
by  the  drollery  of  one  of  their  number, — an  active 
and  vivacious  young  man  named  Benjamin  Bidlack, 
of  whom  more  will  be  related  hereafter.  He  was 
not  only,  like  the  Yorick  of  Hamlet,  *'  a  fellow  of 
infinite  humor,"  but  athletic  and  strong — at  least  as 
strong  as  the  shorn  Samson.  And  as  with  Samson, 
the  PhiHstines  into  whose  hands  he  fell  would  fain, 
from  day  to  day,  bring  Bidlack  forth  to  make  them 
sport.  He  sang  capital  songs,  among  which  was 
one  called  *' The  Swaggering  Man,"  each  verse 
ending — 

"And  away  went  the  swaggering  man." 

This  was  a  favorite  song  with  the  captors,  and 
they  urged  him  repeatedly  to  sing  it — which  he 
very  cheefully  did — for  he  was  as  full  of  fun  as 
any  of  them — insisting,  however,  that  they  must 
enlarge  their  circle,  and  give  him  space  '*  to  act 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  187 

the  part."  And  this  he  did  to  admiration — at 
least  in  one  instance.  Having  by  his  conduct  al- 
layed all  suspicion  of  sinister  intentions,  and  indu- 
ced his  guards  to  give  him  ample  room  wherein 
to  exercise  his  limbs  while  singing  their  favorite 
song,  as  he  sang  the  last  line — 

"  And  away  went  the  swaggering  man," 

suiting  the  action  to  the  words,  he  sprang  from 
the  circle  like  a  leaping  panther,  and  bounded 
away  with  a  fleetness  that  distanced  competition, 
and  gained  his  liberty. 

At  about  the  same  time  when  Bidlack  and  his 
companions  were  taken  to  Sunbury,  a  number  of 
boats,  trading  down  the  river  from  Wyoming,  were 
attacked  and  plundered  by  the  Pennsylvanians. 
These  acts  of  course  produced  immediate  and  ex- 
treme indignation  on  the  part  of  the  Connecticut 
colonists 

But  instead  of  seizing  their  arms  at  once,  and 
rushing  to  the  liberation  of  their  imprisoned  friends, 
they  petitioned  the  Provincial  Congress,  then  in 
session,  to  interpose  for  the  adjustment  of  the  con- 
troversy. On  the  9th  of  November  the  petition 
was  considered  by  Congress,  and  a  conciliatory 
resolution,  with  a  suitable  preamble,  was  adopted, 
setting  forth  the  danger  of  internal  hostilities  in 
that  critical  conjuncture  of  the  affairs  of  the  Amer- 
ican colonies,  and  urging  the  governments  of  Penn- 


188  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

sylvania  and  Connecticut  to  the  adoption  of  the 
most  speedy  and  effectual  measures  to  prevent  such 
hostilities.* 

The  voice  of  Congress,  however,  was  unheeded, 
and  the  imprisonment  of  the  settlers  from  the  West 
Branch  was  rendered  more  rigid  than  before.  Ap- 
prehensions were  moreover  excited  among  the 
people  of  Northumberland,  that  the  chafed  inhab- 
itants of  Wyoming  might  make  a  descent  upon 
Sunbury,  liberate  their  friends  and  fire  the  town. 
Whether  these  apprehensions  were  caused  by  ac- 
tual threats,  or  by  a  sense  of  their  own  wrong  do- 
ing, cannot  be  predicated ;  but  one  of  the  conse- 
quences was  a  proposition,  by  a  Colonel  Plunkett 
of  Northumberland,  to  raise  a  force  and  march 
against  Wyoming  for  its  immediate  conquest  and 
subjugation.  The  proposal  was  listened  to  by  the 
Governor,  and  orders  were  issued  to  Plunkett  to 
raise  the  necessary  forces,  and  execute  his  purpose 
by  the  expulsion  of  the  Connecticut  settlers. 

Plunkett  was  himself  a  civil  magistrate,  as  well 
as  a  colonel ;  but  in  order  to  impart  to  the  expe- 
dition a  civil  rather  than  a  military  character, 
the  army  was  called  the  "  Posse  "  of  the  county, 
and  the  colonel  was  accompanied  by  the  sheriff. 
The  number  of  men  raised  for  the  service  was 
seven  hundred,  well  provisioned,  and  amply  fur- 

*  Journals  of  the  old  CongreM. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  189 

nished  with  military  stores,  which  latter  were  em- 
barked upon  the  river  in  boats. 

These  formidable  preparations  gave  no  small 
degree  of  uneasiness  to  Congress,  yet  in  session  in 
Philadelphia,  and  resolutions  were  immediately 
passed,  urging  the  Pennsylvanians  at  once  to  de- 
sist from  any  farther  hostile  proceedings,  to  liber- 
ate the  prisoners  that  had  been  taken,  and  restore 
all  private  property  that  had  been  detained ;  and 
in  a  word  to  refrain  from  any  and  every  hostile 
act,  until  the  dispute  between  the  parties  could  be 
legally  decided.*  But  these  resolutions  comman- 
ded no  more  respect  from  the  Pennsylvanians,  eith- 
er the  government  or  the  people,  than  the  others. 
Plunkett,  who  had  already  commenced  his  march, 
pursued  his  course.  Winter,  however,  was  ap- 
proaching ;  the  boats  were  impeded  in  their  pro- 
gress by  a  swollen  torrent,  bearing  masses  of  ice 
upon  its  surface;  and  the  troops  could  not  of 
course  proceed  in  advance  of  their  supplies.  The 
advance  of  the  invaders,  therefore,  was  as  deliber- 
ate as  those  who  were  to  be  attacked  could  desire. 

It  was  near  the  close  of  December  when  Colo- 
nel Plunkett  reached  the  Nanticoke  rapids,  in  the 
narrow  mountain  defile  through  which  the  Sus- 
quehanna rushes  on  its  escape  from  Wyoming,  and 
the  obstructions  of  which  were  so  great,  that  the 
boats  could  not  be  propelled  any  farther.     Detach- 

*  Journals  of  Congress, 


190  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

ing  a  guard,  therefore,  for  the  protection  of  his 
supphes,  the  Colonel  continued  his  march  by  the 
road  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  which  winds 
along  by  the  bases  of  the  mountains,  whose  rocky 
battlements  at  times  hang  impending  over  it.  Af- 
ter emerging  from  the  gorge,  and  entering  the 
valley,  the  prospect,  on  that  side  of  the  river,  is  at 
one  point  nearly  intercepted  by  a  large  rock  pro- 
jecting from  a  spur  of  the  Shawanese  Mountain, 
and  extending  nearly  to  the  edge  of  the  river. 

Entering  the  valley  from  the  south,  this  rock, 
or  ledge,  presents  a  formidable  perpendicular  front, 
as  even  as  though  it  were  a  structure  of  hewn 
mason-work.  The  road  winds  along  at  the  base 
of  the  ledge,  turning  its  projection  close  by  the 
river.  The  Colonel  was  somewhat  startled  as  he 
came  suddenly  in  view  of  this  gigantic  defence ; 
nor  was  his  surprise  diminished  by  a  second  glance, 
which  taught  him  that  the  extended  brow  of  the 
rock  had  been  fortified,  while  a  volley  of  musketry 
told  him  farther,  that  this  most  unexpected  fortifi- 
cation was  well  garrisoned. 

The  whole  passage  of  the  defile  at  the  Nanti- 
coke  falls  presents  exactly  such  a  geological  con- 
formation as  it  would  delight  a  Tyrolese  popula- 
tion to  defend  ;  and  the  Yankees  of  Wyoming  had 
not  been  blind  to  the  advantages  which  nature  had 
here  supplied  for  arresting  the  approach  of  the  in- 
vader.     The  fire  had  been  given  too  soon  for 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  191 

much  effect;*  but  it  served  to  throw  the  forces 
of  Plunkett  into  confusion,  and  an  immediate  re- 
treat behind  another  mountainous  projection,  for 
consultation,  was  the  consequence.  The  hazard 
of  turning  the  point  of  the  battlemented  Shaw- 
anese  rock,  defended  by  an  enemy  of  unknown 
strength,  thus  securely  posted,  was  too  great  to  be 
entertained.  It  was  therefore  determined,  by  the 
aid  of  a  batteau  brought  past  the  rapids  by  land 
for  that  purpose,  to  cross  the  river  and  march  up- 
on the  fort  of  Wyoming  alon^  the  eastern  shore. 

Immediate  dispositions  were  made  for  executing 
this  change  in  the  plan  of  the  campaign ;  but  on 
the  approach  of  the  batteau  to  the  opposite  side 
with  the  first  detachment  of  the  invaders,  headed 
by  Colonel  Plunkett  himself,  a  sharp  fire  from  an 
ambuscade  gave  unequivocal  evidence  that  their 
every  possible  movement  had  been  anticipated. 
This  ambuscade  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
Stewart,  who  had  reserved  his  fire  until  the  inva- 
ders were  leaping  on  shore.  One  man  was  killed 
by  the  first  fire,  and  several  others  wounded.  So 
warm  a  reception  upon  both  sides  of  the  river  had 
not  been  foreseen.      The  boat  was  therefore  in- 


*  Gordon  affirms  that  this  volley  killed  one  man,  and  dangerously  wound- 
ed three  others  of  Plunliett's  party.  He  also  states  that  Colonel  Plunkett 
was  at  first  met  in  an  amicable  manner,  by  a  party  of  the  settlers,  under 
one  of  their  leaders,  and  that  he  assured  them  his  only  object  was  to  arrest 
the  persons  named  in  his  warrants,  protesting  that  he  would  offer  violence 
to  no  one  submitting  to  the  laws. 


192  HISTORY    OP    WYOMING. 

stantly  pushed  from  the  land,  and  without  attemp- 
ting to  regain  the  shore  whence  they  had  embarked, 
was  suffered  to  drift  down  the  stream  and  over  the 
rapids,  to  the  fleet  of  provision  boats  below.  The 
chivalrous  Colonel,  being  a  peace  ofl5cer,  lay  down 
in  the  bottom  of  the  boat  to  avoid  the  shots  that 
were  sent  after  him.  His  troops  on  the  western 
side,  however,  attempted  to  cover  his  retreat,  by 
firing  at  random  into  the  thicket  where  Stewart 
had  posted  his  men.  By  one  of  these  chance  shots 
a  man  named  Bowen  was  killed  at  the  instant  when 
he  was  raising  himself  above  the  breast-work  to 
fire  upon  the  enemy. 

Plunkett's  entire  force  now  fell  back  upon  the 
boats  where  another  council  of  war  took  place. 
To  attempt  to  force  the  passage  of  the  terrific 
rock,  frowning  in  its  own  strength,  and  bristling 
with  bayonets  besides,  was  evidently  impractica- 
ble. It  could  not  be  carried  by  assault,  for  want 
of  two  articles, — courage  and  scaling  ladders. — 
To  march  around  the  point  the  garrison  would 
not  allow  them.  And  to  avoid  the  difficulty  by 
threading  the  ravines  of  the  mountains  in  the  rear 
on  either  side,  would  be  a  yet  more  dangerous 
undertaking,  inasmuch  as  the  Yankees  might  not 
only  use  their  fire-arms,  but  also  tumble  the  rocks 
down  upon  their  heads  and  ignominiously  crush 
them  to  death.  In  addition  to  all  which,  it  was 
now  evident  that  even  should  tliey  be  successful 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  193 

in  sitting  down  before  the  fort  of  Wyoming,  and 
opening  their  entrenchments,  the  works  would 
not  be  very  easily  taken  ;  while  their  own  situa- 
tion, by  the  destruction  of  their  boats,  and  the 
cutting  off  of  their  supplies,  and  in  sundry  other 
respects,  might  be  rendered  exceedingly  uncom- 
fortable. Under  such  an  accumulation  of  unto- 
ward circumstances  and  forbidding  prospects,  dis- 
cretion was  wisely  esteemed  the  better  part  of 
valor,  and  the  expedition  was  abandoned. 

With  this  unsuccessful  effort  "  terminated  the 
endeavors  of  the  Executive  of  Pennsylvania  to 
expel,  by  force,  her  troublesome  inmates.  They 
had  become  very  numerous,  and  had  extended 
themselves  over  a  large  tract  of  country,  upon 
which  they  had  planted  and  built  with  great  suc- 
cess. Possession,  by  lapse  of  time,  was  growing 
into  right,  to  preserve  which,  it  was  obvious,  the 
possessors  had  resolved  to  devote  their  lives.  Forci- 
ble ejection  would  therefore  be  followed  with  much 
bloodshed,  and  wide-extended  misery,  which 
would  tend  greatly  to  weaken  the  efforts  of  the 
two  colonies  in  the  common  cause  against  Great 
Britain."* 

For  a  season  after  the  breaking  out  of  the  war 
of  the  revolution,  Wyoming  was  allowed  a  state 


*  Gordon. 

19 


194  HISTORY   OF    WYOMING. 

of  comparative  repose.  The  government  of  Penn- 
sylvania was  changed  by  the  removal  of  the  Pro- 
prietaries, or  successors  of  Penn,  and  the  forma- 
tion of  a  new  constitution  ;  and  both  Connecticut 
and  Pennsylvania  had  other  and  more  important 
demands  upon  their  attention  than  the  disputes  of 
rival  claimants  for  a  remote  and  sequestered  terri- 
tory. A  census  was  taken,  and  the  whole  popula- 
tion of  the  several  towns  of  the  valley,  now  ac- 
knowledging the  jurisdiction  of  Connecticut,  was 
computed  at  about  two  thousand  five  hundred 
souls.*  Two  companies  of  regular  troops  were 
raised,  under  resolutions  of  Congress,  commanded 
by  Captains  Ransom  and  Durkee,  of  eighty-two 
men  each.  These  companies  were  mustered  and 
counted  as  part  of  the  Connecticut  levies,  and  at- 
tached to  the  Connecticut  line.  They  were,  more- 
over, efficient  soldiers,  having  been  engaged  in  the 
brilliant  affair  of  Millstone,  the   bloody  and  unto- 

*  Chapman,  who  resided  in  Wyoming  at  tlie  time  he  wrote  hi^  historj', 
twenty-five  years  ago,  states  the  number  of  inhabitants  at  five  thousand, and 
so  does  Marshall.  But  in  a  recent  appeal  to  the  legislaturcof  Connecticut 
by  a  committee  trom  Wyoming,  drawn  up  by  the  Hon.  Charles  Miner,  for 
more  than  forty  years  a  resident  of  that  place,  the  population  at  that  period 
is  stated  at  2500.  Considering  the  number  of  soldiers  raised  for  the  regular 
service  there,  and  the  number  killed  in  the  massacre,  twenty-five  hundred 
seems  too  small ;  but  in  answer  to  an  objection  raised  by  the  author,  Mr. 
Miner  writes— "In  1773  there  were  430  taxables  ;  allowing  five  inhabi- 
tants to  each  taxable,  will  give  2150.  In  1777,  a  new  oath  of  allegiance 
was  required  by  Connecticut  of  every  freeman.  We  have  the  recorded 
list  returned  by  all  the  justices  ;  the  number  is  269.  Add  for  these  with 
the  army  100,  for  many  in  the  service  were  not  of  age,  and  it  will  make 
369.  Multiply  this  by  six  gives  S214  inhabitants.  The  number  did  not 
exceed  2500.»' 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  195 

ward  battles  of  Brandywine  and  Germantown,  and 
in  the  terrible  cannonade  of  Mud-bank. 

Notwithstanding  the  remoteness  of  its  position, 
and  its  peculiar  exposure  to  the  attacks  of  the  en- 
emy, rendered  more  perilous  from  its  contiguity  to 
the  territory  of  the  Six  Nations,  and  the  readiness 
with  which  a  descent  could  be  made  upon  them 
by  the  way  of  the  Susquehanna,  the  people  of 
Wyoming  were  prompt  to  espouse  the  cause  of 
their  country,  and  as  early  as  the  first  of  August, 
1775,  in  town  meeting,  they  voted  "  that  we  will 
unanimously  join  our  brethren  of  America  in  the 
common  cause  of  defending  our  country."  In  the 
month  of  August  in  the  following  year  it  was 
voted  "  that  the  people  be  called  upon  to  work  on 
the  forts,  without  either  fee  or  reward  from  the 
town."  And  in  1777  the  people  passed  a  vote 
empowering  a  committee  of  inspectors  "  to  supply 
the  soldiers'  wives,  and  the  soldiers'  widows,  and 
their  families,  with  the  necessaries  of  life."^ 

But  the  unanimity  asserted  in  the  first  resolu- 
tion cited  above  must  have  been  a  figurative 
expression,  since,  unhappily,  there  were  loyalists 
in  Wyoming,  as  elsewhere.  The  civil  wars, 
moreover,  had  left  many  bitter  feelings  to  rankle 
in  the  bosoms  of  such  as  had  been  actively  en- 
gaged in  those  feuds.     Added  to  which,  in  the 

*  MS.  records  of  Westmoreland,  in  the  possession  of  Charle*  Miner. 


196  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

exuberance  of  their  patriotism,  between  twenty 
and  thirty  suspected  citizens  were  seized  by  the 
Whigs,  and  dragged  over  the  woods  and  moun- 
tains into  Connecticut,  for  imprisonment.  Nine  of 
these  men  were  discharged  immediately,  and  in  a 
few  days  the  residue  were  set  at  hberty  for  want 
of  proof  to  warrant  their  detention.  They  all 
speedily  thereafter  found  their  way  into  the  ranks 
of  the  enemy  in  Canada — among  the  Tory 
rangers  of  Sir  John  Johnson  and  Colonel  John 
Butler.  These  points  are  stated  thus  minutely,  be- 
cause they  are  essential  to  a  just  understanding  of 
the  darker  features  of  the  history  that  is  to  follow. 
The  Indians  of  the  Six  Nations  were  not 
brought  actively  into  the  field  against  the  Ameri- 
cans until  the  summer  of  1777.  From  that  moment, 
the  w^hole  extended  frontiers  of  the  colonies, 
reaching  from  Lake  Champlain  round  the  North- 
west and  South  to  the  Floridas,  were  harrassed 
by  the  savages.  Wyoming,  however,  did  not  im- 
mediately suffer  so  severely  as  many  other  border 
settlements.  Some  straggling  parties  of  Indians, 
it  is  true,  hung  about  the  valley,  while  General 
St.  Leger  was  besieging  Fort  Stanwix  ;  but  after 
a  few  skirmishes  with  the  inhabitants,  they  with- 
drew, and  the  people  were  not  again  disturbed 
during  that  year,  save  in  two  or  three  instances  in 
the  autumn.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  Mr after- 
ward  Lieutenant   John  Jenkins,   Jun., —  visiting 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 


167 


the  upper  part  of  the  Wyoming  valley,  was  met 
by  a  hostile  party,  taken  to  Niagara,  and  thence 
to  Montreal,  whence  he  was  exchanged  in  1778. 
At  the  time  of  his  capture,  the  same  party  of  loy- 
alists took  prisoner  an  old  man  named  Fitzgerald. 
Placing  him  upon  an  elevated  seat,  they  required 
of  him  a  renunciation  of  his  rebel-principles,  and 
an  acknowledgment  of  allegiance  to  the  King, 
threatening  death  if  he  refused.  ''  I  am  an  old 
man,"  replied  the  silvery-headed  patriot,  "  and 
can  live  but  a  few  years  at  most.  I  would  rath- 
er die  now,  and  die  a  friend  to  my  country,  than 
live  a  few  years  longer  and  then  die  a  tory."*  It 
was  bravely  said,  and  even  the  enemy  must  have 
regarded  the  old  man  with  reverence,  for  their 
threat  was  not  executed. 

But  no  small  degree  of  uneasiness  was  created 
early  in  177S,  by  the  conduct  of  the  loyalists  yet 
remaining  in  the  valley.  These  apprehensions, 
however,  were  allayed  for  a  time,  by  messages  of 
peace  received  from  the  Indians.  But  these  mes- 
sages were  deceptive,  as  was  ascertained  in  March 
by  the  confessions  of  one  of  them,  who,  while  in 
a  state  of  partial  intoxication,  revealed  their  real 
purposes.  They  had  sent  their  messengers  to 
Wyoming  merely  to  lull  the  inhabitants  into  such 
a  state  of  security  as  would  enable  them  to  strike 

*  Statement  of  Elisha  Harding— Wyoming  Memorial  to  C.oagifesSs 

19* 


198  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

a  surer  blow.  The  party  to  which  the  drunken 
Indian  belonged,  was  thereupon  arrested  and  de- 
tained, while  the  women  were  allowed  to  depart. 
It  was  not  long  before  the  inhabitants  of  the  out- 
er settlements, — especially  those  some  thirty  miles 
distant,  upon  the  river  north, — were  grievously 
annoyed,  and  many  of  them  clustered  in  upon  the 
older  and  larger  towns.  In  April  and  May,  the 
savages  hanging  upon  the  outskirts  became  yet 
more  numerous,  and  more  audacious,  committing 
frequent  robberies,  and  in  June  several  murders. 
Thenceforward,  "  their  pathways  were  ambushed, 
and  midnight  was  often  red  with  the  conflagration 
of  their  dwellings."* 

There  were  no  settlements  contiguous  to  Wyo- 
ming, upon  which  the  people  might  call  for  aid  in 
case  of  sudden  emergency.  It  was  not  merely  an 
outpost,  but  was  an  isolated  community,  almost 
embosomed  in  the  country  of  a  savage  enemy.  To 
Sunbury,  the  nearest  inhabited  post  down  the  Sus- 
quehanna, it  was  sixty  miles ;  through  the  great 
swamp,  and  over  the  Pokono  range  of  mountains 
to  the  settlements  on  the  Delaware,  a  pathless  wil- 
derness, it  was  also  sixty  miles.  The  Six  Nations, 
ever  the  most  to  be  dreaded  upon  the  war-path, 
occupied  all  the  upper  branches  of  the  Susque- 
hanna, and  were  within  a  few  hours'  sail  of  the 

♦  Memorial  to  the  Legislature  of  Connecticut. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 


199 


plantations.*  Thus  situated,  there  had  been  a 
conventional  understanding  between  the  govern- 
ment and  the  people  of  Wyoming,  that  the  regu- 
lar troops  enlisted  among  them  should  be  stationed 
there,  for  the  defence  of  the  valley  ;  but  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  service  required  their  action  else- 
where, and  not  only  were  they  ordered  away,  but 
other  enlistments  were  made,  to  the  number,  in 
all,  of  about  three  hundred.  The  only  means  of 
defence  remaining  consisted  of  militia-men,  the 
greater  proportion  of  whom  were  either  too  old  or 
too  young  for  the  regular  service.  And  yet  upon 
these  men  devolved  the  duties  of  cultivating  the 
lands  to  obtain  subsistence  for  the  settlements,  and 
likewise  of  performing  regular  garrison  duty  in 
the  little  stockade  defences  which  were  dignified 
by  the  name  of  forts,  and  of  patrolling  the  out- 
skirts of  the  settlements,  and  exploring  the  thick- 
ets, in  order  to  guard  against  surprise  from  the 
wily  Indians,  and  their  yet  more  vindictive  tory 
aUies. 

There  were  some  six  or  seven  of  those  defences 
called  forts,  but  consisting  only  of  stockades,  or 
logs,  planted  upright  in  the  earth,  and  about  four- 
teen feet  high,  the  enclosures  within  which  served 
also  as  places  of  retreat  for  the  women  and  chil- 
dren in  seasons  of  alarm.     They  had  no  artillery 

*  Memorial  to  the  Legislature  of  Connecticut. 


200  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

save  a  single  four-pounder,  kept  at  Wilkesbarre,  as 
an  alarm-gun,  and  their  only  means  of  defence, 
therefore,  consisted  of  small  arms,  not  always  in 
the  best  order,  as  is  ever  the  case  with  militia. 
Thus  weakened  by  the  absence  of  its  most  effi- 
cient men,  and  otherwise  exposed,  Wyoming  pre- 
sented a  point  of  attack  too  favorable  to  escape 
the  attention  of  the  British  and  Indian  command- 
ers in  the  country  of  the  Six  Nations,  and  in  Can- 
ada. They  were  also,  beyond  doubt,  stimulated 
to  undertake  an  expedition  against  it  by  the  ab- 
sconding loyalists,  who  were  burning  with  a  much 
stronger  desire  to  avenge  what  they  conceived  to 
be  their  own  wrongs,  than  with  ardor  to  serve 
their  king. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  ever  memorable 
expedition  of  Colonel  John  Butler,  with  his  own 
Tory  Rangers,  a  detachment  of  Sir  John  John- 
son's Royal  Greens,  and  a  large  body  of  Indians, 
chiefly  Senecas,  was  undertaken  against  Wyo- 
ming early  in  the  summer  of  1778,  and,  alas ! 
was  but  too  successful.  The  forces  of  the  inva- 
ders are  estimated  by  some  authorities  at  eleven 
hundred,  seven  hundred  of  whom  were  Indians. 
Other  accounts  compute  the  Indians  at  four  hun- 
dred. Opposed  to  these  forces  were  a  company 
of  some  forty  or  fifty  regulars,  under  Captain 
Hewitt,  and  such  numbers  of  the  militia,  iiereto- 
fore  described,  as  could  be  hastily  collected.  Boys 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  201 

and  old  men,  fathers  and  sons,  aged  men  and 
grandfathers,  were  obliged  to  snatch  such  weap- 
ons as  were  at  hand,  and  take  the  field  at  the 
warning  of  a  moment.  Nor  were  the  so-called 
regulars  under  Captain  Hewit,  regulars  in  the 
proper  acceptation  of  the  term.  The  Captain 
had  but  recently  received  his  commission,  with 
directions  to  recruit  at  Wyoming.  He  had  en- 
listed these  forty  or  fifty  men,  who  were  obliged 
to  find  their  own  arms ;  and  having  had  but  a 
short  and  indifferent  experience  in  martial  exer- 
cise, when  the  enemy  came  they  were  militia  men 
still,  though  not  such  in  name.  The  expedition  of 
the  enemy  moved  from  Niagara,  across  the  Gene- 
see country, and  down  the  Chemung  river  to  Tioga 
Point,  whence  they  embarked  upon  the  Susque- 
hanna, and  landed  about  twenty  miles  above  Wy- 
oming— entering  the  valley  through  a  notch  from 
the  west,  about  a  mile  below  the  head  of  the  val- 
ley, and  taking  possession  of  a  small  defence  call- 
ed Wintermoot,  after  the  name  of  its  proprietor, 
an  opulent  loyalist  of  that  town.=*     Colonel  John 

*  Among  the  papers  of  Colonel  Zebulon  Butler,  Mr.  Miner  has  discov- 
ered a  document  labelled,  "  A  list  of  Tories  who  joined  the  Indians," 
There  are  sixty-one  names  on  the  list,  but  of  these  there  were  but  three 
New-England  men.  Most  of  them  were  transient  persons,  or  labor^Jrs  j 
or  men  who  had  gone  to  Wyoming  as  hunters  and  trappers.  Six  are  of 
one  family— the  Wintermoots ;  four  were  named  Secord;  three  were 
Pawlings  :  three  Lanaways ;  and  four  Van  Alstynes.  It  is  not  believed 
that  there  were  more  than  twenty  or  twenty-five  tory  families.  Nine  of 
them  were  from  the  Mohawk  valley,  who  were  probably  sent  thither  by 
the  Johnsons  to  poison  the  settlement  if  possible,  or  as  spies.    Four  of 


202  HISTORY    OF    WrOMINGf. 

Butler  established  his  head  quarters  at  this  place, 
and  thence,  for  several  days,  scouts  and  foraging 
parties  were  sent  out,  for  observation  and  to  col- 
lect provisions.  The  enemy's  arrival  at  Fort  Win- 
termoot,  v^^hich  stood  on  the  bank  of  the  river, 
was  on  the  2d  of  July. 

The  dark  and  threatening  sayings  of  a  drunken 
Indian,  as  already  stated,  had  awakened  some  sus- 
picions that  an  attack  was  meditated  by  the  enemy 
in  the  course  of  the  season,and  a  message  had  been 
sent  to  the  head  quarters  of  the  continental  army 
early  in  June,  praying  for  a  detachment  of  troops 
for  their  protection.  To  this  request  no  answer  had 
been  received.  To  fly,  however,  with  their  women 
and  children,  with  an  agile  enemy  upon  their  very 
heels,  was  impossible,  even  had  the  thought  been 
entertained.  But  it  was  not.  "  Retirement  or 
flight  was  alike  impossible,  and  there  was  no 
security  but  in  victory.  Unequal  as  was  the  con- 
flict, therefore,  and  hopeless  as  it  was  in  the  eye  of 
prudence,  the  young  and  athletic  men,  fit  to  bear 
arms,  and  enlisted  for  their  special  defence,  being 
absent  with  the  main  army  ;  yet  the  inhabitants, 
looking  to  their  dependent  wives,  mothers,  sisters, 
little    ones,   took    counsel   of  their  courage,  and 


them  were  from  Kindcrhook  ;  six  from  the  county  of  Westchester,  (N.  Y.) 
Tho  Wiiitermoots  were  from  Minisink.  There  were  not  ten  tory  flimi- 
lies  who  had  resided  two  years  in  Wyoming.— X>«tt<r  t«  th*  Author frvm 
Charles  Min$r. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  203 

resolved  to  give  the  enemy  battle."*  Having  such 
treasures  to  defend,  in  addition  to  the  great  pend- 
ing question  of  National  existence  and  liberty, they 
felt  strong  confidence  that  they  should  be  able  to 
repel  the  invader.  No  sooner,  therefore,  was 
the  presence  of  the  enemy  known,  than  the  mili- 
tia rapidly  assembled  at  the  old  defence,  '^  Fort 
Forty,"  so  frequently  mentioned  in  the  preced- 
ing narrative  of  the  civil  wars,  which  was  situ- 
ated immediately  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river, 
some  three  miles  north  of  Wilkesbarre.  Small 
garrisons  of  aged  men  were  left  in  the  other 
feeble  forts  of  the  colonists,  for  the  protection  of 
the  women  and  children  assembled  therein,  while 
the  majority  of  those  capable  of  bearing  arms,  old 
men  and  boys,  fathers,  grand-fathers  and  grand- 
sons, assembled  at  Fort  Forty,  to  the  number  of 
nearly  four  hundred. 

Colonel  Zebulon  Butler,  heretofore  mentioned 
as  a  soldier  in  the  French  war,  and  as  being  placed 
in  the  commission  of  the  peace,  was  now  an  officer 
in  the  continental  army,  and  happening  to  be  at 
home  at  the  time  of  the  invasion,  on  the  invitation 
of  the  people  he  accepted  the  command.  A  coun- 
cil of  war  was  called  on  the  morning  of  the  3rd  of 
July,  to  determine  upon  the  expediency  of  march- 
ing out  and  giving  the  enemy  battle,  or  of  await- 

*  Memorial  to  the  Legislature  of  Connecticut. 


204  '  HISTORY    OP    WYOMING. 

ing  his  advance.  There  were  some  who  preferred 
delay,  in  the  hope  that  a  reinforcement  would  ar- 
rive from  the  camp  of  General  Washington.  Oth- 
ers maintained  that  as  no  advices  had  been  received 
thence  in  reply  to  their  application,  the  mes- 
senger had  probably  been  cut  off ;  and  as  the 
enemy's  force  was  constantly  increasing,  they 
thought  it  best  to  meet  and  repel  him  at  once  if 
possible.  The  debates  were  warm  ;  and  before 
they  were  ended,  five  commissioned  officers,  who, 
hearing  of  the  anticipated  invasion  had  obtained 
permission  to  return  for  the  defence  of  their  fami- 
lies, joined  them.  Their  arrival  extinguished  the 
hope  of  present  succor  by  reinforcements  from  the 
main  army,  and  the  result  of  the  council  was  a 
determination  for  an  immediate  attack. 

As  soon  as  the  proper  dispositions  could  be 
made,  Colonel  Zebulon  Butler  placed  himself  at 
the  head  of  the  undisciplined  force,  and  led  them 
forward,  the  design  being  to  take  the  enemy  by 
surprise.  And  such  would  probably  have  been 
the  issue,  but  for  the  occurrence  of  one  of  those 
untoward  incidents  against  which  human  wisdom 
cannot  guard.  A  scout,  having  been  sent  forward 
to  reconnoitre,  found  the  enemy  at  dinner,  not 
anticipating  an  attack,  and  in  high  and  frolick- 
some  glee.  But  on  his  return  to  report  the  fact 
the  scout  was  fired  upon  by  a  stragghng  Indian, 
who  gave  the  alarm.     The  consequence  was,  that 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  205 

on  the  approach  of  the  Americans,  they  found  the 
enemy  in  hue  ready  for  their  reception.  Colonel 
Zebulon  Butler  commanded  the  right  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, aided  by  Major  Garratt.  The  left  was  com- 
manded by  Colonel  Dennison,  of  the  Wyoming 
militia,  assisted  by  Lieut.  Colonel  Dorrance.  Op- 
posed to  the  right  of  the  Americans  and  also  rest- 
ing upon  the  bank  of  the  river,  was  Colonel  John 
Butler,  with  his  rangers.  The  right  of  the  enemy, 
resting  upon,  or  rather  extending  into,  a  marsh, 
was  composed  principally  of  Indians  and  tories, 
led  by  a  celebrated  Seneca  chief  named  Gi-en- 
gwah-toh  ;  or,  He-who-goeS'in-the- Smoke,  The 
field  of  battle  was  a  plain,  partly  cleared  and 
partly  covered  with  shrub  oaks  and  yellow  pines. 

The  action  began  soon  after  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  and  was  for  a  time  kept  up  on  both 
sides  with  great  spirit.  The  right  of  the  Ameri- 
cans advanced  bravely  as  they  fired,  and  the  best 
troops  of  the  enemy  were  compelled  to  give  back. 
But  while  the  advantages  were  thus  promising 
with  the  Americans  on  the  right,  far  diiTerent  was 
the  situation  of  affairs  on  the  left.  Penetrating 
the  thicket  of  the  swamp,  a  heavy  body  of  the  In- 
dians were  enabled,  unperceived,  to  outflank  Col. 
Dennison,  and  suddenly  like  a  dark  cloud  to  fall 
upon  his  rear.  The  Americans,  thus  standing 
between  two  fires,  fell  fast  before  the  rifles  of  the 
Indians  and  tories,  but  yet  they  faltered  not,  until 
20 


206  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

the  order  of  Colonel  Dennison  to  "  fall  back,"  for 
the  purpose  only  of  changing  position,  was  mis- 
taken for  an  order  to  retreat.  This  misconception 
was  fatal.  The  confusion  instantly  became  so 
great  that  restoration  to  order  was  impossible.  The 
enemy,  not  more  brave,  but  better  skilled  in  the 
horrid  trade  of  savage  war,  and  far  more  numer- 
ous withal,  sprang  forward,  and  as  they  made  the 
air  resound  with  their  frightful  yells,  rushed  upon 
the  Americans,  hand  to  hand,  tomahawk  and  spear; 
But  the  handful  of  regulars  and  those  who  were 
not  at  first  thrown  into  confusion  did  all  that  men 
could  dare  or  achieve  to  retrieve  the  fortunes  of 
the  day.  Observing  one  of  his  men  to  yield  a 
little  ground,  Colonel  Dorrance  called  to  him  with 
the  utmost  coolness — "  Stand  up  to  your  work, 
sir  1"  The  Colonel  immediately  fell.*  As  the 
enemy  obtained  the  rear,  an  officer  notified  Cap- 
tain Hewitt  of  the  fact,  and  inquired,  "  Shall  we 
retreat,  sir  ?"  "  I'll  be  d — d  if  I  do,"  was  his  re- 
ply— and  he  fell  instantly  dead  at  the  head  of  his 
little  command.  The  retreat  now  became  a  flight, 
attended  with  horrible  carnage,  "  We  are  nearly 
alone,"  said  an  officer  named  Westbrook — "  shall 
we  go  ?"  **  I'll  have  one  more  shot,"  said  a  Mr. 
Cooper,  in  reply.  At  the  same  instant  a  savage 
sprang  toward  him  with  his  spear,  but  was  brought 

♦The  Rev.  John  Dorrance,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  In  WUkes- 
barr^  [in  1839]  is  a  grand-son  of  Colonel  Dorrance. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  207 

to  the  ground  in  his  leap,  and  Cooper  deliberately 
re-loaded  his  piece  before  he  moved.  He  was  one 
of  the  few  who  survived  the  battle.  On  the  first 
discovery  of  the  confusion  on  the  left,  Colonel 
Zebulon  Butler  rode  into  the  thickest  of  the  melee, 
exclaiming — "Don't  leave  me,  my  children! 
The  victory  will  yet  be  ours."  But  numbers  and 
discipline,  and  the  Indians  besides,  were  against 
the  Americans,  and  their  rout  was  complete. 

During  the  flight  to  Fort  Forty,  the  scene  was 
that  of  horrible  slaughter.  Nor  did  the  darkness 
put  an  end  to  the  work  of  death.  No  assault  was 
made  upon  the  fort  that  night ;  but  many  of  the 
prisoners  taken  were  put  to  death  by  torture.  The 
place  of  these  murders  w^as  about  two  miles  north 
of  Fort  Forty,  upon  a  rock,  around  which  the  In- 
dians formed  themselves  in  a  circle.  Sixteen  of 
the  prisoners,  placed  in  a  ring  around  a  rock,  near 
the  river,  were  held  by  stout  Indians,  while  the 
squaws  struck  their  heads  open  with  the  tomahawk. 
Only  one  individual,  a  powerful  man  named  Ham- 
mond, by  a  desperate  effort,  escaped.  Seeing  one 
after  another  of  his  fellows  perish  by  the  bloody 
hand  of  the  insatiate  squaw  acting  as  executioner, 
Hammond  sprang  forward  suddenly,  and  rushing 
through  the  circle,  outstripped  his  pursuers,  and 
was  not  retaken.*     In  a  similar  ring,  a  little  far- 

*Lebbeus  Hammond.    He  afterward  removed  to  Tioga  County,  (N.  Y.) 
where  he  lived  and  died  a  very  respectable  citizen. 


209  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

ther  north  of  the  rock,  nine  persons  were  murder- 
ed in  the  same  way.'*  It  has  been  said,  both  in 
tradition  and  in  print,  that  the  priestess  of  this 
bloody  sacrifice  was  the  celebrated  Catharine  Mon- 
tour, sometimes  called  Queen  Esther,  whose  resi- 
dence was  at  Catharinestown,  at  the  head  of  Sen- 
eca Lake.  But  the  statement  is  improbable. 
Catharine  Montour  was  a  half-breed,  who  had  been 
well  educated  in  Canada.  Her  reputed  father 
was  one  of  the  French  governors  of  that  province 
when  appertaining  to  the  crown  of  France,  and 
she  herself  was  a  lady  of  comparative  refinement. 
She  was  much  caressed  in  Philadelphia,  and  min- 
gled in  the  best  society .f  Hence  the  remotest 
belief  cannot  be  entertained  that  she  was  the  He- 
cate of  that  fell  night.  A  night  indeed  of  terror, 
— described  with  truth  and  power  by  the  bard  of 
Gertrude,  as  the  dread  hour  when — 

— "  Sounds  that  mingled  laugh,  and  8hont,  and  scream 

To  Ireeze  the  blood  in  one  discordant  Jar, 

Rung  the  pealing  thunderbolts  of  war. 

Whoop  after  whoop  with  rack  the  ear  assailed. 

As  if  unearthly  fiends  had  burst  their  bar; 

While  rapidly  the  marksman's  shot  prevailed ; — 

And  aye,  as  if  for  death,  some  lonely  trumpet  wailed  !" 

When  the  numbers  are  taken  into  the  account, 
the  slaughter  on  this  occasion  was  dreadful.  The 
five  ofliicers  who  arrived  from  the  continential  ar- 


*Note  in  Silliman's  Journal,  vol.  xviii. 

t  vide  Whitham  Marshe's  Journal  of  a  treaty  with  the  Six  Nations  at 
Lancaster,  in  1744. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  HO^ 

my  on  the  morning  of  the  battle  were  all  slain. 
Captain  Hewitt,  who  fell,  had  a  son  in  the  battle 
with  him,  aged  eighteen.  Captain  Ahohah  Buck 
and  his  son,  aged  only  fourteen,  were  both  slain. 
Anderson  Dana,  the  representative  of  the  valley  in 
the  Connecticut  legislature,  had  returned  from  the 
session  just  in  season  to  fight  and  fall.  His  son- 
in-law,  Stephen  Whiting,  who  had  been  married 
to  his  daughter  but  a  few  months  before,  went  in- 
to the  battle  with  him,  and  was  also  slain.  Two 
brothers,  named  Perrin  and  Jeremiah  Ross,  were 
slain  in  the  battle.*  There  was  a  large  family 
named  Gore,  one  of  whom  was  with  the  continen- 
tial  army.  Those  at  home,  five  brothers  and  two 
brothers-in-law,  went  into  the  battle,  and  of  these, 
five  were  dead  upon  the  field  at  night,  a  sixth  was 
wounded,  and  one  only  escaped  unhurt.  Of  the 
family  of  Mr.  Weeks,  seven  went  into  the  battle, 
viz :  five  sons  and  sons-in-law,  and  two  inmates. 
Not  one  of  the  number  escaped.  These  are  but 
a  few  instances  of  many,  selected  merely  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  how  general  was  the  rush  to 
the  field,  and  how  direful  the  carnage.f 

♦Brothers  of  General  William  Eoss,  who  is  yet  living,  (1840,)  in  Wyo- 
ming. 

t  Among  the  officers  killed  in  the  battle,  the  following  names  have  been 
preserved.  Lieutenant  Colonel  George  Dorrance : — Major  Wait  Garrett ; — 
Captains  Dottrick  Hewitt,  Robert  Durkee,*  Aholiah  Buck,  Asa  Whittlesey, 

Lazarus  Stewart,  Samuel  Ransom,*  James  Bidlack, Geere, 

M'Kanachin, Wigdon  ;  — Lieutenants,  Timothy  Pierce,*  James 

Wells,*  Elijah  Shoemaker,  Lazarus  Stewart,  2d,  Perin  Ross,*  Asa  Stevens  ; 

Ensigns,  Asa  Gore, Avery.     25=  Those  marked  (*)  were  the  five 

who  arrived  from  the  Conlinential  army  on  the  morning  of  the  battle. 

20* 


210  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

The  closing  scene  of  that  memorable  drama, 
was  in  terrible  keeping  with  the  bloody  acts  which 
had  proceeded.  Flushed  with  victory,  the  savage 
Senecas  still  pursued  their  victims,  filling  the  val- 
ley with  their  wild  screams,  and  rushing  onward 
in  overwhelming  numbers.  The  few  Americans 
who  escaped  the  murderous  conflict  in  the  field, 
fled  precipitately  to  Wilkesbarre  Fort,  where  were 
gathered  women  and  children,  waiting  the  dread  is- 
sue of  the  contest,  with  breathless  anxiety.  Their 
return  only  added  to  the  dreadful  consternation, 
already  prevailing  in  the  Fortress.  Siezed  with 
panic,  at  the  idea  of  being  cooped  up  there,  with 
the  certainty  of  meeting  a  ruthless  destruction,  if 
they  remained,  they  fled  to  the  mountains,  and 
sought  refuge  in  the  recesses  of  a  dreary  swamp, 
called  afterward,  from  the  numbers  who  fell  there, 
the  "  Shades  of  Death."  But  an  enemy  was  on 
their  track,  familiar  with  swamps,  and  expert  in 
threading  the  deepest  fastnesses.  They  were  soon 
found,  when  the  work  of  destruction  recommenc- 
ed with  a  fiercer  violence.  To  the  few  survivors 
this  was  "  a  night  long  to  be  remembered."  Be- 
hind them  they  saw  the  flames  spreading  destruc- 
tion through  the  valley.  On  one  side  of  them  was 
the  battle-field,  on  which  lay  their  brave  brethren 
weltering  in  their  blood.  Around  them,  the  ago- 
nizing shriek  proclaimed  that  the  dreadful  carnage 
was  still  going  on. 


HISTORY    OP    WYOMING.  211 


The  fair  fields  of  Wyoming  presented  a  melan- 
cholly  spectacle  on  the  morning  of  the  4th.     The 
pursuit  of  the  Indians  had  ceased  the  preceding 
evening  with  the  nightfall,  and  the  work  of  death 
was  completed  by  the  tragedy  at  the  Bloody  Rock. 
But  the  sun  arose  upon  the  carcasses  of  the  dead 
—  not  only  dead  but  horribly  mangled — strewn 
over  the  plain,  from  the  point  where  the  battle  be- 
gan to  Fort  Forty.     A  few  stragglers  had  at  first 
taken  refuge  in  that  defence,  and  by  the  morning 
light,  all  who  had  not  been  slain,  or  who  had  not 
betaken  themselves  to  the  mountains,  had  collect- 
ed within  the  Fort,  before  which  Colonel  John 
Butler  with  his  motley  forces  appeared  at  an  early 
hour,  and  demanded  a  surrender.     It  appears  that 
some  negotiations  upon  the  subject  of  a  capitula- 
tion had  been  interchanged  the  preceding  evening, 
at  Wintermoot's.     Be  that  as  in  may,  it  was  un- 
derstood that  no  terms  would  be  listened  to  by  the 
enemy  but  that  of  the  unconditional  surrender  of 
Colonel  Zebulon  Butler,  and  the  small  handful  of 
regular  troops,  numbering  only  fifteen,  who  had 
escaped  the  battle,  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the 
Indians.     Under  these  circumstances,   means  of 
escape  for  the  Colonel  and  these  fifteen  men  were 
found  during  the  night.     The  former  succeeded 
in  making  his  way  to  one  of  the  Moravian  settle- 
ments on  the  Lehigh,  and  the  latter  fled  to  Sha- 
mokin. 


212  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

The  little  fort  being  surrounded  by  a  cloud  of 
Indians  and  tories,  and  having  no  means  of  de- 
fence, Colonel  Dennison,  now  in  command,  yield- 
ed to  the  force  of  circumstances,  and  the  impor- 
tunities of  the  women  and  children,  and  entered 
into  articles  of  capitulation.  By  this  it  was  mu- 
tually agreed  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  settle- 
ment should  lay  down  their  arms,  the  fort  be  de- 
molished, and  the  continental  stores  be  delivered 
to  the  conquerors.  The  inhabitants  of  the  settle- 
ment were  to  be  permitted  to  occupy  their  farms 
peaceably,  and  without  molestation  of  their  persons. 
The  loyalists  were  to  be  allowed  to  remain  in  the 
undisturbed  possession  of  their  farms,  and  to  trade 
without  interruption.  Colonel  Dennison  and  the  in- 
habitants stipulated  not  again  to  take  up  arms  during 
the  contest,  and  Colonel  John  Butler  agreed  to  use 
his  utmost  influence  to  cause  the  private  property 
of  the  inhabitants  to  be  respected. 

But  the  last-mentioned  stipulation  was  entirely 
unheeded  by  the  Indians,  who  were  not,  and  per- 
haps could  not  be,  restrained  from  the  work  of 
rapine  and  plunder.  The  surrender  had  no  sooner 
taken  place  than  they  spread  through  the  valley. 
Every  house  not  belonging  to  a  loyalist  was  plun- 
dered, and  then  laid  in  ashes.  The  greater  part 
of  the  inhabitants,  not  engaged  in  the  battle,  men, 
women,  and  children,  had  fled  to  the  mountains 
toward  the  Delaware ;    and  as  the  work  of  de- 


^(D  S:E]P:H  ^^'JUAHT  „  ICIEIA^jriBHIDMf  is  -aiiEi a 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  213 

struction  was  re-commenced,  many  others  follow- 
ed the  example.  The  village  of  Wilkesbarre  con- 
sisted of  twenty-three  houses.  It  was  burnt,  and 
the  entire  population  fled.  No  lives  were  taken 
by  the  Indians  after  the  surrender ;  but  numbers 
of  women  and  children  perished  in  the  dismal 
swamp  on  the  Pokono  range  of  mountains,  in  the 
flight  which  will  be  presently  described.  The 
whole  number  of  people  killed  and  missing  was 
about  three  hundred.*^ 

Colonel  Benjamin  Dorrance,  yet  a  resident  of 
Wyoming,  a  gentleman  of  character  and  affluence, 
was  a  lad  in  Fort  Forty  at  the  time  of  its  surren- 


*  Until  the  publication  J  year  before  last,  of  the  Life  of  Brant,  by  the 
writer  of  the  present  work,  it  had  been  asserted  in  all  history  that  that 
celebrated  Mohawk  chieftain  was  the  Indian  leader  at  Wyoming.  He 
himself  always  denied  any  participation  in  this  bloody  expedition,  and 
his  assertions  were  corroborated  by  the  British  officers,  when  questioned 
upon  the  subject.  But  these  denials,  not  appearing  in  history,  relieved 
him  not  from  the  odium;  and  the  "  monster  Brant  "  has  been  denounced, 
the  world  over,  as  the  author  of  the  massacre.  In  the  work  referred  to 
above,  the  author  took  upon  himself  the  vindication  of  the  savage  war- 
rior from  the  accusation,  and,  as  he  thought  at  the  time,  with  success.  A 
reviewer  of  that  work,  however,  in  the  Democratic  Magazine,  who  is  un- 
derstood to  be  the  Hon.  Caleb  Cushing  of  Massachusetts,  disputed  the 
point,  maintaining  that  the  vindication  was  not  satisfactory.  The  author 
thereupon  made  a  journey  into  the  Seneca  country,  and  pushed  the  inves- 
tigation among  the  surviving  chiefs  and  warriors  of  the  Senecas  engaged 
in  that  campaign.  The  result  vi^as  a  triumphant  acquittal  of  Brant  from 
all  participation  therein.  The  celebrated  chief  Captain  Pollard,  whose 
Indian  name  is  Raoundoowand,  a  fine  old  warrior,  was  a  young  chief  in 
that  battle.  He  gave  a  full  account  of  it,  and  was  clear  and  positive  in 
his  declarations  that  Brant  and  the  Mohawks  were  not  engaged  in  that 
campaign  at  all.  Their  leader,  he  said,  was  Qi-en-gwah-toh,  as  already 
mentioned  in  the  text,  who  lived  many  years  afterward,  and  was 
succeeded  in  his  chieftaincy  by  the  late  Young  King.  That  point  of 
history,  therefore,  may  be  considered  as  conclusively  settled. 


214  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

der  to  Butler  and  the  Indians,  and  remembers 
freshly  the  circumstances.  He  states  that  after 
the  capitulation,  the  British  regular  troops  march- 
ed into  the  fort  by  the  northern  or  upper  gateway, 
while  Gi-en-gwah-toh  and  his  Indians  entered  at 
the  southern  portal.  Colonel  Dorrance  recollects 
well  the  look  and  conduct  of  the  Indian  leader. 
His  nostrils  distended,  and  his  burning  eyes  flash 
ing  like  a  basilisk's,  as  he  glanced  quickly  to  the 
right,  and  to  the  left,  with  true  Indian  jealousy  and 
circumspection,  lest  some  treachery  or  ambuscade 
might  await  them  within  the  fort.  But  the  powerful 
and  the  brave  had  fallen.  Old  age  was  there,  totter- 
ing upon  his  crutches,  and  widowed  women,  with 
their  helpless  children  clinging  to  their  garments 
— sobbing  in  all  the  bitterness  of  a  woe  at  which 
the  ruthless  savages  mocked.* 

But  after  all,  the  greatest  barbarities  of  this  cele- 
brated massacre  were  committed  by  the  tories. 
Many  loyalists,  as  has  been  already  seen,  had 
months  before  united  themselves  with  the  enemy 
at  Niagara  ;  and  on  his  arrival  at  the  head  of  the 
valley,  many  more  of  the  settlers  joined  his  ranks. 

•  "  The  Hazleton  TraveUers,''  by  Charles  Miner.  I  shall  have  frequent 
occasion  to  repeat  this  reference  in  the  succeeding  chapter,  and  it  may  be 
well  to  explain  what  is  tlic  work  referred  to.  It  is  not  a  book,  but  a  se- 
ries of  historical  essays,  or  rather  colloquies,  published  by  Mr  Miner  in 
the  village  paper  of  Wyoming,  during  the  years  1837  and  1838.  In  these 
papers,  the  author  introduces  a  party  of  strangers  from  Hazleton,  who  ac- 
company him  in  an  iniaginary  journey  through  the  valley,  and  to  whom 
the  author  is  supposed  to  recount  its  history  in  a  series  of  familiar  conver- 
sations.   These  papers  have  been  of  great  value  to  the  author. 


I 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  215 

These  all  fought  with  the  most  brutal  ferocity 
against  their  former  neighbors,  and  were  guilty 
of  acts  of  which  even  this  distant  contemplation 
curdles  the  blood.  Of  these  acts  two  or  three 
must  suffice.  During  the  bloody  fight  of  the  3d, 
some  of  the  fugitives  plunged  into  the  river  and 
escaped  to  the  opposite  shore.  A  few  landed 
upon  Monockonock  Island,  having  lost  their  arms 
in  the  flight,  and  were  pursued  thither.  One  of 
them  was  discovered  by  his  own  brother,  who  had 
espoused  the  side  of  the  crown.  The  unarmed 
Whig  fell  upon  his  knees  before  his  brother  and 
offered  to  serve  him  as  a  slave  forever,  if  he  would 
but  spare  his  life.  But  the  fiend  in  human  form 
was  inexorable  ;  he  muttered  "  you  are  a  d — d 
rehely^^  and  shot  him  dead.  This  tale  is  too  hor- 
rible for  belief;  but  a  survivor  of  the  battle,  a 
Mr.  Baldwin,  whose  name  will  occur  again,  con- 
firmed its  truth  to  the  writer  with  his  own  lips. 
He  knew  the  brothers  well,  and  in  August,  1839, 
declared  the  statement  to  be  true.* 

A  tradition  is  rehearsed,  that,  long  after  this  un- 
paralled  act  of  fratricide,  the  murderer,  haunted 
by  conscience,  wandered  back  from  Canada, 
whither  he  had  fled,  to  the  spot  where  the  fearful 
deed  was  committed,  and  found  there  a  grave, 
whence  he  could  almost  hear  "  the  voice  of  his 

*  Vide  also  Chapman. 


216  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

brother's  blood  ''  crying  yet  for  vengeance.  The 
legend  needs  a  voucher  for  its  authenticity.  But 
it  has  nevertheless  been  vi^rought  into  a  metrical 
tale,  by  one  of  our  country's  gifted  bards,*  with 
thrilling  and  powerful  effect :  The  reader  will  not 
regret  the  interruption  of  the  historical  narrative 
while  the  story  is  reproduced  in  meeisures  so  spir- 
ited and  beautiful : — 

THE    DEATH    OF    THE    FRATRICIDE. 

He  stood  on  the  brow  of  the  well  known  hill, 
Its  few  gray  oaks  moan'd  over  him  still — 
The  last  of  that  forest  which  cast  the  gloom, 
Of  its  shadow  at  eve  o'er  his  childhood's  home  ; 
And  the  beautiful  valley  beneath  him  lay 
With  its  quivering  leaves,  and  its  streams  at  play, 
And  the  sunshine  over  it  all  the  while 
Like  the  golden  shower  of  the  Eastern  Isle. 

He  knew  the  rock  with  its  clinging  vine. 

And  its  gray  top  touch'd  by  the  slant  sunshine  ; 

And  the  delicate  stream  which  crept  beneath, 

Soft  as  the  flow  of  an  infant's  breath  ; 

And  the  flowers  which  leaned  to  the  West  wind's  sigb, 

Kissing  each  ripple  which  glided  by. 

And  he  knew  every  valley  and  wooded  swell, 

For  the  visions  of  childhood  are  treasured  well ! 

Why  shook  the  old  man  as  his  eye  glanc'd  down 
That  narrow  ravine  where  the  rude  cUffs  frowDi 
With  their  shaggy  brows  and  their  teeth  of  stone, 
And  their  grim  shade  back  from  the  sunlight  thrown? 
What  saw  he  there  save  the  dreary  glen, 
Where  the  shy  fox  crept  from  the  eye  of  men, 
And  the  great  owl  sat  on  the  leafy  limb 
That  the  hateful  aun  might  not  look  on  him  f 

♦  Wblttler. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  217 

Fix'd,  glassy,  and  strange  was  that  old  man's  eye  I 

As  if  a  spectre  was  stealing  by  ! 

And  glared  it  still  on  that  narrow  dell 

Where  thicker  and  browner  the  twilight  fell ; 

Yet  at  every  sigh  of  the  fitful  wind, 

Or  stirring  of  leaves  in  the  wood  behind, 

His  wild  glance  wander'd  the  landscape  o'er, 

Then  fix'd  on  that  desolate  dell  once  more  ! 

Oh  !  who  shall  tell  of  the  thoughts  which  ran 
Through  the  dizzied  brain  of  that  gray  old  man? 
His  childhood's  home  — and  his  fathers's  toil  — 
And  his  sister's  kiss  —  and  his  mother's  smile  — 
And  his  brother's  laughter  and  gamesome  mirth, 
At  the  village  school  and  the  winter  hearth  — 
The  beautiful  thoughts  of  his  early  time, 
Ere  his  heart  grew  dark  with  its  later  crime. 

And  darker  and  wilder  his  visions  came 
Of  the  deadly  feud  and  the  midnight  flame, 
Of  the  Indian's  knife  with  its  slaughter  red, 
Of  the  ghastly  forms  of  the  scalpless  dead. 
Of  his  own  fierce  deeds  in  that  fearful  hour 
When  the  terrible  Brant  was  forth  in  power,  — 
And  he  clasp'd  his  hands  o'er  his  burning  eye, 
To  shadow  the  vision  which  glided  by. 

It  came  with  the  rush  of  the  battle  storm  — 
With  a  brother's  shaken  and  kneeling  form, 
And  his  prayer  for  life  when  a  brother's  arm 
Was  lifted  above  him  for  mortal  harm, 
And  the  fiendish  curse,  and  the  groan  of  death, 
And  the  welling  blood,  and  the  gurgling  breath, 
And  the  scalp  torn  off  while  each  nerve  could  feel 
The  wrenching  hand  and  the  jagged  steel  I 

And  the  old  man  groan'd  —  for  he  saw,  again, 
The  mangled  corse  of  his  brother  slain, 
As  it  lay  where  his  hand  had  hurl'd  it  then, 
At  the  shadow 'd  foot  of  that  fearful  glen  I 
And  it  rose  erect,  with  the  death-pang  grim, 
And  pointed  its  bloody  finger  at  him  !  — 
And  his  heart  grew  cold  —  and  the  curse  of  Cain 
Burn'd  like  a  fire  in  the  old  man's  brain  ! 

21 


218  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

Oh,  had  he  not  seen  that  spectre  rise 
On  the  blue  of  the  cold  Canadian  skies  ! 
From  the  laltes  which  sleep  in  the  ancient  wood, 
It  had  risen  to  whisper  its  tale  of  blood. 
And  follow'd  his  bark  to  the  sombre  shore, 
And  glared  by  night  through  the  wigwam  door  ; 
And  here  —  on  his  own  familiar  hill  — 
It  rose  on  his  haunted  vision 'etill  1 


Whose  coree  was  that  which  the  morrow's  sun 
Through  the  opening  boughs  look'd  calmly  on  ? 
There  were  those  who  bent  o'er  that  rigid  face 
Who  well  in  its  darken'd  lines  might  trace 
The  features  of  him  who,  traitor,  fled 
From  a  brother  whose  blood  himself  had  shed, 
And  there  —  on  the  spot  where  he  strangely  died— 
They  made  the  grave  of  the  Fratricide  ! 

Among  the  fugitives  who  plunged  into  the  riv- 
er in  their  flight,  was  Captain  Shoemaker.  He 
was  seen  and  recognized  by  a  loyaHst  named  Hen- 
ry Windecker,  whose  family  had  been  supplied 
with  provisions  in  a  time  of  scarcity  by  Shoema- 
ker. Windecker  now  called  to  him  in  a  friendly 
manner,  assuring  him  of  protection  if  he  would 
return  to  the  shore.  Confiding  in  the  promise  of 
a  former  neighbor,  he  did  so  ;  but  his  life  was  the 
forfeit  of  his  trust.  As  he  regained  the  bank, 
Windecker  received  him  with  his  left  hand,  and 
struck  him  dead  to  the  earth  with  the  tomahawk 
held  in  his  right. 

There  was  another  case,  very  similar  to  the  pre- 
ceding, marked  by  equal  turpitude — that  of  Wil- 
Hammond — a  brother  of  the  resolute  Hammond 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  219 

who  escaped  from  the  massacre  of  the  "bloody 
rock."*  Having  escaped  from  the  slaughter  of 
the  battle-ground  to  the  river,  across  which  he 
was  swimming  for  the  island,  he  was  hailed  by  a 
former  neighbor,  named  Secord,  now  a  tory  in  the 
ranks  of  the  enemy.  Previously  to  the  war  they 
had  lived  upon  terms  of  the  utmost  intimacy, — 
often  being  engaged  in  the  same  labors  in  the  field, 
and  the  same  sports  in  the  hours  of  relaxation. 
Secord's  solicitation  was  of  the  most  friendly 
kind,  calculated  at  once  to  dispel  all  suspicion  of 
treachery,  and  to  inspire  confidence.  "  Is  that 
you.  Bill  Hammond,"  said  he.  "  Yes,"  was  the 
reply.  Whereupon  Secord  advised  him  to  return 
and  promised  him  protection,  to  which  the  other 
answered,  "  No  :  I  can  swim  across  the  river,  and 
make  my  escape."  "  You  cannot,"  rejoined  Se- 
cord :  "  the  Indians  are  on  the  opposite  side  and 
will  certainly  kill  you.  If  you  will  return,  I 
will  claim  you  as  a  brother,  and  secure  your 
life."  Deceived  by  the  apparent  sincerity  of  his 
assurances,  Hammond  returned  to  the  shore 
whence  he  had  plunged  into  the  stream.  Secord 
stepped  into  the  edge  of  the  water  to  recieve  him, 
and  as  he  grasped  with  his  left  hand  the  right  of 
his  friend,  with  his  own  right  hand  he  buried  his 
hatchet  in  his  head  !      The  scene  of  diabolical 

*  There  were  three  brothers  of  this  name  in  the  battle. 


230  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

treachery  was  observed  by  a  fugitive  named  Tubbs, 
lying  close  by  in  concealment,  who  ultimately  es- 
caped and  related  the  revolting  circumstances. 
The  body  of  Hammond  floated  down  the  river  to 
Fort  Forty,  where  it  was  discovered,  recognized, 
and  brought  to  the  shore.f 

The  fugitives  generally  crossed  the  mountains 
to  Stroudsburg,  where  there  was  a  small  military 
post.  Their  flight  was  a  scene  of  wide-spread 
and  harrowing  sorrow.  Their  dispersion  being 
in  an  hour  of  the  wildest  terror,  the  people  were 
scattered,  singly,  in  pairs,  and  in  larger  groups, 
as  chance  separated,  or  threw  them  together, 
in  that  sad  hour  of  peril  and  distress.  Let  the 
mind  picture  to  itself  a  single  group,  flying  from 
the  valley  to  the  mountains  on  the  east,  and  climb- 
ing the  steep  ascent — ^Imrrying  onward,  '*  filled 
with  terror,  despair  and  sorrow  ; — ^the  affrighted 
mother,  whose  husband  has  fallen  ; — an  infant  on 
her  bosom, — a  child  by  the  hand, — an  aged  parent 
slowly  climbing  the  rugged  steep  behind  them  ; — 
hunger  presses  them  severely, — in  the  rustling  of 
every  leaf  they  hear  the  approaching  savage, — a 
deep  and  dreary  wilderness  before  them, — the  val- 
ley all  in  flames  behind, — their  dwellings  and  har- 
vffsts  all  swept  away  in  this  spring-flood  of  ruin, 
— the  star  of  hope  quenched  in  this  blood-shower 

t  Life  of  Major  Van  Campen,  of  whom,  more  in  the  sequel. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  221 


of  savage  vengeance."*  There  is  no  work  of  fan- 
cy in  a  sketch  like  this.  Indeed  it  cannot  ap- 
proach the  reality.  There  were  in  one  of  these 
groups  that  crossed  the  mountain, — those  of  them 
that  did  not  perish  by  the  way, — one  hundred 
women  and  children,  and  but  a  single  man  to  aid, 
direct,  and  protect  them.  Their  sufferings  for 
food  were  intense.  One  of  the  surviving  officers 
of  the  battle,  who  escaped  by  swimming  the  river, 
crossed  the  mountain  in  advance  of  many  of 
the  fugitives,  and  was  active  in  meeting  them 
with  supplies.  "  The  first  we  saw  on  emerging 
from  the  mountains,"  said  a  Mrs.  Cooper,  one  of 
the  fugitives,  "  was  Mr.  Hollenbach,  riding  full 
speed  from  the  German  settlement  with  bread : 
and  O  !  it  was  needed ;  we  had  saved  nothing, 
and  were  near  perishing ;  my  husband  had  laid 
his  mouth  to  the  earth  to  lick  up  a  little  meal  scat- 
tered by  some  one  more  fortunate."! 

Mr.  William  Searle,  whose  father,  Constant 
Searle,  an  aged  man,  was  slain  in  the  battle,  being 
himself  unable  to  go  into  the  engagement  because 
of  a  wound  received  in  a  skirmish  with  a  party  of 
Indians  a  few  days  before,  was  nevertheless  obli- 
ged to  make  his  way  across  the  mountains,  as  the 

*  The  Ilazleton  Travellers. 

t  Mr.  Hollenbach  was  a  survivor  of  the  battle,  and  in  bis  escape  swam, 
the  river  naked.  In  this  situation  he  was  found  by  Sol'omon  Hunt,  a 
brother  of  Mrs.  Myers,  who  also  swam  the  river,  preserving  his  shirt  and 
pantaloons.  Giving  Hollenbach  one  of  these  gaiments,  they  proceeded 
together  to  Wilkesbarre.— JVyte  communicated  by  Rev^  Dr.  Peck. 

21* 


222  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

conductor  of  a  party  of  twelve  women  and  chil- 
dren.    Captain  Hewitt,  commanding  the  compa- 
ny of  new  levies  in  the  engagement,  who  bravely 
fell,  refusing  to  retreat,  was  the  son-in-law  of  Con- 
stant Searle.     Many  of  the  fugitives  continued 
their  journey  back  to  Connecticut,  ascending  the 
Delaware  and  crossing  over  to  the  Hudson   at 
Poughkeepsie.     It  was  at  this  place  that  the  first 
account  of  the  massacre  was  pubUshed  ;  being  col- 
lected from  the  lips  of  the  panic-stricken  and  suf- 
fering fugitives,  and  full  of  enormous  exaggera- 
tions such  as  the  alleged  massacre  of  women  and 
children  after  the   surrender,  the  burning  of  forts 
full  of  people,  &c.    None  of  these  tales  were  true, 
albeit  they  found  their  way  into  Dr.  Thatcher's 
Military  Journal,  written  at  the  time,  and  even  in- 
to the  statelier  histories  of  Gordon,  Ramsay,  Botta 
and  others.     A  venerable  old  lady,  Mrs.  Bidlack, 
yet  living  in  August  1839,  was  one  of  the  captives 
surrendered   at  the  fort,  being  then  about  sixteen 
years  old.     She  stated  to  the  autlior   that  the  In- 
dians were  kind  to  them  after  they   were  taken, 
except  that  they  plundered  them  of  every  thing 
but  the  clothes   upon  their  backs.      They  then 
marked  them  with  paint   to  prevent  them  from 
being  killed  by  other  Indians — a  precaution  often 
adopted  by  the  red  men,  by  whom  such  marks  are 
always  respected. 

Great  injustice  has  been  done  to  the  character 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING  223 

and  conduct  of  Colonel  Zebulon  Butler  in  con- 
nection with  this  tragic  affair  of  Wyoming,  by  some 
ill-informed  historians  who  have  written  upon  the 
subject,  as  well  because  he  did  not  attempt  to  ral- 
ly the  survivors,  and  make  another  stand  before 
Fort  Wyoming,  as  on  account  of  his  flight.  But 
the  idea  is  preposterous  in  the  mind  of  any  intelli- 
gent man  who  duly  considers  the  circumstances  in 
which  he  was  placed.  Who  was  there  to  rally  ? 
Could  the  fife  and  drum  pierce  the  ears  of  the 
slain  ?  Could  the  dead  be  raised — the  ashes  of 
those  who  had  been  put  to  the  torture  in  the  flames 
be  revivified  by  the  reading  of  a  regimental  order  ? 
Full  one  half  of  the  males  of  the  colony  lay  stiff 
in  death  on  the  field.  Had  there  been  any  body 
to  rally,  with  the  least  possible  chance  of  success, 
Zebulon  Butler  would  have  been  the  last  man  to 
fly.  But  there  w^as  not,  and  the  enemy  had  refus- 
ed quarter  to  all  who  belonged  to  the  continental 
army.  It  was  therefore  the  duty  of  Colonel  But- 
ler to  save  himself  and  the  fifteen  brave  survivors 
of  Captain  Hewitt's  company. 

Zebulon  Butler  was  not  an  accidental  soldier. 
He  had  served  in  the  old  French  war,  with  gal- 
lantry, and  his  associations  with  European  officers, 
had  added  to  his  imposing  form  and  carriage  the 
manners  of  a  gentleman.  His  courage  and  forti- 
tude had  moreover  been  illustrated  in  the  civil 
wars,  for  the  possession  of  the  territory  he  was 


224  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

now  defending  from  foreign  invasion.  An  idea 
of  his  spirit  may  be  formed  by  the  following  inci- 
dent, connected  with  the  very  service  that  had 
now  resulted  so  disastrously.  It  must  be  borne 
in  mind  that  he  was  the  commander  of  a  conti- 
nental regiment  in  the  Connecticut  line.  When 
the  people  of  Wyoming  began  to  be  alarmed  in 
the  spring,  he  was  directed  to  repair  thither,  and 
look  into  their  condition.  On  the  receipt  of  his 
report,  setting  forth  the  destitution  of  the  valley, 
at  head-quarters,  it  was  alleged  that  his  account 
was  exaggerated.  "  It  is  impossible,"  exclaimed 
one  of  the  officers, — "  it  cannot  be  so."  The 
officer's  incredulity  was  reported  to  Colonel  But- 
ler, who  replied,  in  his  next  despatch,  "  A  gentle- 
man who  had  a  just  regard  for  his  own  honor, 
would  not  so  lightly  suspect  the  honor  of  another." 
When  the  invasion  actually  occurred,  he  was 
not  only  unprepared,  but  was  compelled  to  meet 
the  enemy,  greatly  superior  in  numbers,  contrary 
to  his  own  better  judgment.  The  rashness  of 
the  brave  but  undisciplined  men  hastily  collect- 
ed together  compelled  him  to  the  hazard  of  the 
die.  His  dispositions  for  the  battle  were  those 
of  a  soldier,  his  conduct  during  the  battle  that  of 
a  brave  man  and  skillful  officer  ;  and  but  for  the 
untoward  circumstance  of  the  mistaken  order 
which  threw  his  left  wing  into  confusion,  the  for- 
tunes of  the  day,  notwithstanding  the  disparity  of 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  225 

their  relative  forces,  might  yet  have  been  different. 
He  lost  no  character  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  saw 
the  transaction,  or  in  the  estimation  of  those  who 
knew  him ;  and  a  long  and  useful  life,  during 
which  he  enjoyed  richly  the  public  confidence,  is 
the  most  unerring  test  of  his  character.''^ 

So  also  has  it  been  with  Colonel  Dennison,  the 
second  in  rank  on  that  fatal  day,  who  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  left  wing  when  it  broke  and  fled. 
He,  too,  has  been  censured  in  history,  if  not  for 
his  conduct  in  the  battle,  at  least  for  the  capitu- 
lation. But  as  in  the  case  of  his  commander,  these 
censures  have  been  most  unreasonable.  The  cir- 
cumstances in  which  he  found  himself,  when,  from 
the  necessary  flight  of  Colonel  Zebulon  Butler, 
the  command  had  devolved  upon  him,  were  of  the 
most  trying  description. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  they  were  only  the 
fragments  of  a  shattered  and  broken  militia,  and 
not  regular  troops,  of  whom  he  was  in  accidental 
command.  By  the  result  of  the  battle,  the  entire 
force  and  population  of  the  valley  were  broken 
and  crushed.  The  thought  of  farther  resistance 
would  have  been  more  than  folly, — it  would  have 

*  The  grave  of  Colonel  Butler  is  occasionally  visited  by  strangers.  The 
stone  has  been  embellished  by  some  "poet  of  the  wilderness,"  with  th©, 
foUowing  rustic  but  pious  rhymes  :— 

"  Distinguished  by  hia  usefulness, 
At  home  and  when  abroad  j. 
In  court,  in  camp,  and  in  recess^ 
Protected  still  by  God," 


226  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

been  madness.  It  would  not  have  checked  for  an 
hour  the  victorious  enemy,  but  on  the  other  hand 
would  only  have  exasperated  to  additional  mur- 
ders. And  what  officer  ever  yet  succeeded  in 
rallying,  and  bringing  again  into  a  line,  a  band  of 
flying  militia  with  a  cloud  of  savages  upon  their 
heels  ?  When  he  capitulated,  he  was  in  a  defence- 
less stockade  fort,  filled  with  women  and  children, 
and  surrounded  by  a  savage  and  victorious  enemy. 
But  it  was  not  true,  as  is  stated  in  the  books,  that 
when  he  demanded  upon  what  terms  he  might 
be  allowed  to  surrender,  the  reply  was  "  The 
Hatchet" — and  that  he  thereupon  capitulated 
unconditionally,  leaving  the  women  and  children 
to  a  merciless  horde  of  barbarians.  On  the  contrary, 
the  terms  he  made  were  honorable,  and  it  was  not 
his  fault  that  the  articles  were  violated  in  regard 
to  the  plundering,  and  burnings  of  the  Indians. 
Those  terms  were  in  truth  drawn  up  before 
Colonel  Butler  left  the  garrison.  Colonel  Den- 
nison  has  been  farther  censured,  and  charged 
with  bad  faith  in  joining  the  expedition  of  Co- 
lonel Hartley,  who,  having  been  ordered  to  Wyo- 
ming soon  after  the  devastation,  proceeded  against 
the  Indian  towns  farther  north  upon  the  Susque- 
hanna. Colonel  Dennison,  who  had  stipulated  in 
the  capitulation  not  again  to  bear  arms  against  his 
English  Majesty,  was  an  active  officer  under  Co- 
lonel Hartley ;    and  the  circumstance  was  used  as 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  227 

a  pretext  by  the  bitter  and  bloody-minded  Walter 
Butler,  for  the  invasion  and  massacre  of  Cherry 
Valley  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year.*  But  it 
was  only  a  pretext.  With  the  single  exception 
that  an  end  was  put  by  Colonel  John  Butler  and 
Gi-en-gwah-toh  to  the  effusion  of  blood,  every 
other  provision  of  the  terms  of  that  capitulation 
was  disregarded.  Every  thing,  as  has  been  seen, 
was  plundered,  the  entire  settlement  subjected  to 
pillage,  and  instead  of  the  inhabitants  being  al- 
lowed to  remain  at  peace  in  their  possessions,  the 
whole  was  given  up  to  rapine,  and  finally  to  the 
flames.  So  that  Colonel  Dennison,  on  principles 
of  the  most  scrupulous  honor,  and  the  most  delicate 
propriety,  was  fully  justified  in  resuming  his  arms. 
Colonel  Dennison  was  one  of  the  early  emi- 
grants to  Wyoming.  He  was  a  native  of  New- 
London  county  ;  and  on  the  extension  of  the 
jurisdiction  of  Connecticut  over  the  extensive  do- 
main comprehended  within  the  town  of  West- 
moreland, a  regiment  of  militia  being  organized, 
he  was  commissioned  its  colonel.  He  was  a  gen- 
tleman of  highly  respectable  talents,  and  of  liberal, 
and  it  is  believed,  collegiate  attainments.  He 
was  regarded  by  all  who  served  with  or  knew  him, 
as  a  brave  and  faithful  officer.  After  the  close  of 
the  war,  he  held  various  important  civil  appoint- 

♦  Life  of  Brant,  Vol.  I.,  Chap.  xvii. 


228  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

ments  under  the  authority  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
died  at  a  very  advanced  age — as  eminent  for  his 
sweet  and  unaffected  piety  as  he  had  ever  been 
for  his  patriotism — honored^  loved,  and  wept  by 
all.  He  had  two  sons,  both  of  whom  were  highly 
respectable  citizens  ;  one  of  whom  died  in  March, 
1843,  and  the  other  a  few  years  ago,  after  having 
served  his  country  in  the  state  legislature  and  in 
Congress,  with  ability  and  honor. 

The  fields  of  Wyoming  were  waving  with  heavy 
burdens  of  grain,  ripening  for  the  harvest,  at  the 
time  of  the  invasion,  and  no  sooner  had  the  enemy 
retired  than  considerable  numbers  of  the  settlers 
returned  to  secure  their  crops.  In  the  course  of 
their  flight  across  the  mountains,  a  party  of  the 
fugitives  fell  in  with  Captain  Spalding,  of  the 
Continental  army,  at  the  head  of  a  company  of 
regulars,  on  their  way  to  assist  in  the  defence  of 
the  valley.  Being  apprized  of  the  melancholy 
catastrophe  that  had  befallen  it,  and  having  no 
force  adequate  to  engage  the  invaders  who  had 
been  left  rioting  upon  the  spoils  of  their  conquest, 
Captain  Spalding  retraced  his  steps  to  Strouds- 
burg,  where  he  remained  for  a  month,  and  until 
it  was  ascertained  that  the  enemy  had  retired. 
He  then  advanced  and  took  possession  of  the  vale 
of  desolation,  where  he  was  soon  afterward  joined 
by  Colonel  Zebulon  Butler,  who  assumed  the  com- 
mand of  the  station,  and   under  whose   direction, 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  229 

aided  by  the  returning  inhabitants,  another  fort 
was  erected  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  a  short 
distance  below  the  present  borough  of  Wilkes- 
barre.  This  fort  was  occupied  by  Captain  Spald- 
ing, with  a  small  garrison,  for  upward  of  two 
years,  during  which  period  numbers  of  the  inhabi- 
tants who  had  escaped  came  back,  rebuilt  their 
houses,  and  resumed  their  stations  in  the  settle- 
ment. 

There  was,  however,  but  little  repose  for  the 
people  until  the  close  of  the  war.  The  Indians 
were  frequently  hovering  upon  the  outskirts,  by 
straggling  scouts,  and  in  larger  parties,  in  quest  of 
scalps,  prisoners,  and  plunder.  Sometimes  they 
appeared  in  considerable  numbers.  In  the  month 
of  March,  1779,  Captain  Spalding's  fort  was  sur- 
rounded by  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  Indians 
and  painted  tories.  They  commenced  an  attack 
upon  the  fort,  advancing  upon  all  except  the  river 
side,  in  a  semi-circle,  with  the  intention  of  storm- 
ing it.  But  a  brisk  fire  being  opened  upon  them 
from  the  fort  with  small  arms  and  also  a  four-pound- 
er, they  dispersed  —  burning  such  buildings  as 
came  in  their  way,  and  driving  off  the  cattle. 
Spalding's  garrison  made  a  sally ;  but  the  enemy 
raUied  in  numbers  sufficient  to  chase  them  back, 
though  the  firing  was  maintained  during  the  retreat. 
A  small  reinforcement  being  added  to  the  assis  t- 
ance  of  Spalding,  from  Fort  Wyoming,  by  Colo- 
22 


230  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

nel  Butler,  the  pursuit  was  renewed  ;  but  on  reach- 
ing the  edge  of  the  woods,  the  force  of  the  enemy 
was  found  to  be  so  large  as  to  render  a  farther 
advance  upon  him  hazardous.  The  Americans 
therefore,  retired  to  their  defence,  but  were  not 
pursued.  The  skirmishing  continued  two  hours 
and  a  half;  and  the  enemy  succeeded  in  carrying 
away  sixty  heads  of  black  cattle  and  twenty  horses 
— shooting  the  field-horses  of  Colonel  Butler  which 
they  could  not  take.*  It  was  evident,  from  the 
traces  of  blood,  and  other  indications,  that  consid- 
erable execution  was  done  ;  but  it  was  not  until 
two  years  afterward,  that  on  the  escape  of  a  pris- 
oner, the  fact  was  ascertained  that  the  Indian  chief 
commanding  the  expedition,  had  been  killed — his 
body  being  cut  in  two  by  a  cannon  ball.f  In  the 
succeeding  month  of  April,  as  Major  Powell  was 
leading  a  detachment  of  troops  to  reinforce  the 
garrison  of  Wyoming,  while  threading  a  defile  so 
narrow  that  but  a  single  man  could  pass  at  a  time, 
and  utterly  unconscious  that  a  subtle  enemy  was 
lurking  about  his  path,  he  was  fired  upon  from  an 
Indian  ambuscade  in  Laurel  Run,  near  the  crest 
of  the  first  mountain,  and  six  of  his  men  killed,  of 
which  number  were  Captain  Davis  and  Lieutenant 
Jones.  Taken  thus  fatally  by  surprise,  Powell 
retreated  for  a  short  distance,  to  bring  his  men  into 

*Despatches  of  Colonel  Butler  to  General  Hand, 
t  Statement  of  General  Ross— Wyoming  memorial. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.        '  2.*11 

order  of  battle,  —  for  they  had  been  marching  at 
their  ease,  without  any  organization,  or  much  cir- 
cumspection. The  ambuscade  was  then  charged, 
and  after  a  few  scattering  fires  the  Indians  were 
dispersed.  The  troops  immediately  entered  the 
valley,  taking  with  them  the  bodies  of  the  officers 
who  had  fallen,  which  were  interred  with  the  hon- 
ors of  war,  and  an  appropriate  though  rude  me- 
morial placed  upon  their  graves. 

Toward  the  close  of  June,  1771,  General  Sulli- 
van arrived  in  Wyoming,  with  his  division  of  the 
army  destined  for  the  memorable  expedition  of  that 
year  against  the  country  of  the  Six  Nations  —  the 
territory  of  the  Cayugas  and  Senecas  in  particular. 
After  remaining  there  awhile,  all  things  being  ready, 
Sullivan  moved  up  the  river  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Tioga,  where  he  was  joined  by  General  Clinton's 
division  from  the  north.     General  Sullivan's  bag- 
gage ''  occupied  one  hundred  and  twenty  boats, 
and   two   thousand   horses,   the   former  of  which 
were  arranged  in  regular  order  upon  the  river,  and 
were  propelled  against  the  current  by  soldiers  with 
setting-poles,  the  whole  strongly  guarded.     The 
horses,  laden  with  provisions  for  the  daily  subsist- 
ence of  the  troops,  having  to  march  singly  in  a 
narrow  path,  formed  a  line  six  miles   in  length. 
The  flotilla  upon  the  river  formed  a  beautiful  spec- 
tacle, as  they  moved  in  order  from  their  anchorage, 
and  as  they  passed  the  fort  they  exchanged  salutes. 


232  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.    « 

The  whole  scene  formed  a  mihtary  display  surpass- 
ing any  which  had  previously  been  seen  in  Wyo- 
ming, and  was  well  calculated  to  make  a  deep 
impression  upon  the  minds  of  those  lurking  parties 
of  savages  that  still  continued  to  prowl  about  the 
mountains,  from  the  tops  of  which  the  pageant  was 
visible  for  many  miles."* 

But  these  wily  warriors  were  neither  driven 
away,  nor  awed  into  inaction.  It  was  not  long 
after  Sullivan's  departure  before  a  brisk  action  was 
fought  between  a  detachment  of  Pennsylvania  mi- 
litia, moving  to  the  north  for  the  protection  of  the 
Lackawaxen  settlements,  and  a  party  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  Indians,  in  which  the  former  were 
defeated,  with  the  loss  of  between  forty  and  fifty 
men  killed  and  taken. 

Having  ravaged  the  Genesee  country,  and  laid 
the  Indian  towns  waste  by  fire  and  sword.  General 
Sullivan  returned  to  Wyoming  in  October,  and 
thence  to  Easton.  The  Indians,  however,  followed 
close  upon  his  rear,  and  hung  upon  the  borders  of 
Wyoming  until  the  close  of  the  war.  Shortly  after 
Sullivan's  departure,  a  detachment  of  militia  from 
Northampton  county,  raised  for  the  protection  of 
the  borderers,  were  attacked  while  on  their  march 
to  the  Susquehanna,  and  eleven  of  their  number 
killed  outright,  and  two  others  mortally  wounded, 

*  Chapman. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  233 

The  men  were  surprised  while  refreshing  them- 
selves at  a  brook,  by  a  party  of  about  forty  Indians, 
led  by  a  white  loyalist.  The  former  were  com- 
manded by  Captain  Moyer,  whose  good  conduct 
after  the  first  fire  in  part  atoned  for  the  high  mili- 
tary offence  of  allowing  himself  to  be  surprised. 
Ten  of  the  Indians  were  killed,  and  an  eleventh 
mortally  wounded.  Still  they  succeeded  in  carry- 
ing away  three  white  prisoners,  all  of  whom  con- 
trived to  effect  their  escape  on  the  following  night. 
Incidents  of  a  kindred  character  might  be  mul- 
tiplied to  an  almost  indefinite  extent;  but  their 
recital,  from  general  sameness,  would  become  tedi- 
ous ;  suffice  it  to  say,  that  until  the  final  close  of 
that  great  struggle  for  liberty,  from  the  invasion  of 
1778,  Wyoming  seemed  the  object  of  inextinguish- 
able rancor — of  unappeasable  hate.  There  was 
not  an  hour's  security  for  the  people.  Revenge 
upon  Wyoming  seemed  a  cherished  luxury  to  the 
infuriated  savages  hovering  upon  her  outskirts  on 
every  side.  It  was  all  a  scene  of  war,  blood,  and 
suffering — owing,  in  the  main,  to  the  unpardonable 
neglect  of  the  Continental  Congress,  who,  having 
drawn  off  the  flower  of  the  population  for  the  reg- 
ular service,  neglected,  in  return,  to  aflford  the  valley 
any  adequate  protection.  In  the  old  town  records 
of  Westmoreland,  at  a  public  meeting,  in  the  latter 
part  of  April,  1780,  it  is  recorded  that  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  aid  the  people  in  protecting  their 
22* 


234  HISTORY    OP    WYOMING. 

settlements,  in  consequence  of  the  attacks  of  the 
enemy.  In  1781,  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
obtain  an  abatement  of  the  state  tax  at  Hartford, 
in  consequence  of  the  continued  distress.  And  in 
1 782,  wheat  being  taken  for  taxes  in  the  town 
treasury,  it  was  ordered  to  be  ground  and  baked 
into  biscuit  to  be  ready  for  the  scouting  parties 
kept  up  by  the  town.  There  was  therefore  no 
repose  for  the  inhabitants,  but  frequent  fightings 
and  continual  fears.  In  the  course  of  this  harassing 
warfare  there  were  many  severe  skirmishes — sev- 
eral heroic  risings  of  prisoners  upon  their  Indian 
captors — and  many  hair-breadth  escapes — some  of 
which,  together  with  various  details  of  family  and 
individual  heroism  and  suffering,  on  the  great  day 
of  slaughter  and  afterward,  will  be  found  narrated 
in  the  succeeding  chapter* 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Anecdotes  and  biographical  sketches  of  the  living  and  the  dead  of  Wyo- 
ming,—General  Ross,  and  his  family,— Visit  to  the  Field  of  Battle,— 
The  Monument,— Inspection  of  the  Bones  of  the  Slain,— Process  of 
Tomahawking,— Visit  to  Mrs.  Myers, — Her  recollections,- Messrs.  Ben- 
net  and  Hammond,— Heroic  Exploit,— Visit  to  Rev.  Mr.  Bidlack,— Mrs. 
Bidlack,— Recollections  of  both,— The  Gore  Family,— Story  of  the  In- 
man  family, — The  Jenkins  family, — Lieut.  John  Jenkins, — His  captivi- 
ty,— Extracts  from  his  Diary,— Mrs.  Jenkins,  his  widow,— Her  recollec- 
tions,— The  Wintermoots,— Mrs.  Jenkins's  visit  to  the  battle  field, — 
The  Blackman  family,— Story  of  Samuel  Carey  and  Zibbera  Hibbard,— 
Story  of  John  Abbot,— The  Williams  family— Heroic  exploit  of  Ser- 
geant Williams, — Story  of  the  Weeks  family,  and  of  the  Indian  Antho- 
ny Turkey, -vStory  of  Major  Van  Campen,— Life  of  Mrs.  Phebe  Young, 
— The  Slocum  family,— .Story  of  Frances  Slocum,  the  "  Lost  Sister." 

Considering  the  extent  of  the  slaughter  in  the 
massacre  of  Wyoming,  the  number  of  the  survi- 
vors of  that  fatal  day  yet  lingering  this  side  of  the 
grave  is  much  greater  than  might  have  been  ex- 
pected. And  the  still  larger  number  of  the  im- 
mediate descendants  of  those  who  fell,  yet  inhab- 
iting the  valley,  is  also  a  source  of  surprise.  Both 
circumstances  speak  well  for  the  place  and  the 
people — proving  the  salubrity  of  the  climate,  and 
the  good  taste  and  domestic  habits  of  those  who 
enjoy  it.*  It  is  the  author's  design  in  the  present 
chapter,  agreeably  to  an  intimation  in  the  last,  to 

*  Reference  is  here  had  to  the  date  of  the  first  edition  in  1840. 


236  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

bring  out,  in  bolder  relief  than  could  well  be  done 
in  a  general  historical  narrative,  some  of  the  ex- 
ploits and  sufferings  both  of  individuals  and  fami- 
lies, who  were  engaged  in  the  scenes  that  have 
been  described.  And  of  those  thus  to  be  noticed, 
there  are  several  persons  of  both  sexes  yet  among 
the  living. 

One  of  the  most  opulent,  as  well  as  respectable 
citizens  yet  enjoying  a  green  old  age  in  Wilkes- 
barre,  is  General  William  Ross.  He  is  a  native 
of  Moniville,  in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  and 
was  removed  to  Wyoming  with  his  father's  family, 
while  yet  in  his  childhood,  before  the  war  of  the 
Revolution.  At  the  time  of  the  invasion  William 
Ross  was  sixteen  years  old.  He  was  not,  how- 
ever, engaged  in  the  battle  which  resulted  so  dis- 
astrously, having  the  day  before  marched  with  a 
small  scouting  party,  twelve  miles  up  the  river,  to 
a  settlement  in  which  the  Indians  had  just  com- 
mitted a  savage  butchery.  In  this  expedition  they 
killed  two  Indians,  and  buried  five  bodies  of  their 
fellow  colonists,  which  had  been  sadly  mangled. 
But  young  Ross  had  two  brothers,  older  than  him- 
self, Jeremiah  and  Perrin,  engaged  in  the  battle,  the 
latter  of  whom  was  an  officer,  and  both  of  whom 
fell.  Their  father  was  already  dead.  On  Wil- 
liam, therefore,  now  devolved  the  care  of  an  aged 
mother,  several  sisters,  and  the  widow  and  chil- 
dren of  his  brother  Perrin.     These  all  made  their 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  237 

escape  across  the  mountains  to  a  place  of  safety, 
whence,  however,  the  noble-spirited  youth  return- 
ed to  the  scene  of  rapine,  to  save  whatever,  if 
any  thing  might  be  left,  and  in  all  respects  to  per- 
form his  duty.  He,  among  others,  was  charged 
with  visiting  the  field  of  slaughter  and  burying  the 
dead.  The  scene  was  shocking.  They  discover- 
ed two  rings  in  which  prisoners  had  been  massa- 
cred, within  one  of  which  there  were  nine  bodies, 
and  within  the  other,  fourteen.  The  only  bodies 
recognized,  were  those  of  Darius  Spofford  and 
Captain  Durkee, — the  latter  being  easily  identified 
from  the  circumstance  that  he  had  lost  a  joint  from 
one  of  his  fingers.  Some  of  the  unhappy  prison- 
ers were  burnt  to  death  on  that  fatal  night  by  the 
torture  of  fire, — the  process  having  been  witness- 
ed by  Mr.  Bennet  and  his  son  Ishmael,  by  Mr. 
Whitaker,  a  magistrate,  and  by  Captain  Blanchard, 
who  had  stationed  themselves  for  purposes  of  ob- 
servation, on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river. 
They  distinctly  saw  naked  white  men  running 
around  the  fires,  and  heard  the  cries  of  agony. 
They  saw  the  Indians  following  them  in  the  circle 
with  their  spears,  mingling  their  yells  of  savage 
delight  with  the  shrieks  of  their  victims.*     It  was 


*  Statement  of  Ishmael  Bennet,  in  the  WyomingMemorial  to  Congress. 
"  Early  the  next  morning  we  could  see  them  fixing  their  scalps  on  little 
bows  made  of  small  sticks,  and  with  their  moccasin  awls  and  a  string, 
were  sewing  them  around  the  bows,  and  scraping  off  the  flesh  and  blood, 


238 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 


more  than  a  month  after  the  event  when  this  visit 
to  the  field  was  made,  and  General  Ross  assured 
Professor  Silliman,  in  the  year  1829,  that  owing 
to  the  intense  heat  of  the  weather,  and  probably  to 
the  dryness  of  the  air,  the  bodies  were  shrivelled, 
dry,  and  inoffensive,  but  with  a  single  exception 
they  could  not  be  recognized.  They  were  buried 
in  a  common  grave  upon  the  farm  now  belonging 
to  Mr.  Gay.  Everything  from  his  father's  farm 
had  disappeared,  that  the  invaders  could  destroy 
or  carry  away.  But  being  the  only  male  of  his 
family  left,  he  resolved  to  honor  his  name  ;  and 
the  consequence  was,  that  he  not  only  bore  up 
with  heroic  fortitude  against  the  flood  of  calami- 
ties that  had  rolled  over  the  valley,  but  he  over- 
came and  rolled  them  back.  The  widows  and 
orphans  were  taken  care  of;  the  fortunes  of  his 
house  retrieved  ;  and  he  has  lived  long  in  the  en- 
joyment of  many  public  honors  from  the  state  of 
his  adoption,  and  discharging  every  public  or  pri- 
vate trust  confided  to  him  with  fidelity.* 

A  visit  to  the  field  where  the  battle  commenced 
is  no  farther  of  special  interest  than  that  it  ena- 
bles one  to  test  the  descriptive  accuracy  of  the 
books.     The   position  of  the  enemy's  line  when 

carefully  drying  them,  and  at  the  Bame  time  smoking."    [Elvira  Harding'* 
Stattmetit—Wyotnini^  Memorial.]    The  squaws,  for  several  days  after  the 
battle,  ornamented  their  girdles  with  the  scalps  of  the  slain. 
»  Written  in  1840.    General  Ross  has  since  deceased.        * 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  239 

receiving  the  attack  may  be  traced,  and  the  tan- 
gled morass  still  exists  through  which  the  Indians 
penetrated  to  gain  the  rear  of  the  left  wing  of  the 
Americans,  commanded  by  Colonel  Dennison. 

Returning  from  the  battle  field,  an  interesting 
object  for  a  visit  is  the  monument  which  the  peo- 
ple of  Wyoming  have  commenced  building,  in 
honor  of  their  patriotic  ancestors  who  fell  upon 
this  consecrated  aceldama.  It  stands  upon  the 
eastern  side  of  the  highway,  about  half  a  mile 
south  of  the  village  of  Troy,  and  near  the  line 
where  the  fury  of  the  battle  ceased — not  far, 
moreover,  from  the  spot  where,  some  weeks  after 
the  conflict,  the  remains  of  the  dead  were  collected 
and  buried.  The  monument  is  to  consist  of  a 
simple  obelisk,  of  perhaps  twenty  feet  in  diameter 
at  the  base,  to  be  carried  up  to  the  height  of  fifty 
or  sixty  feet.  The  material  is  an  inferior  species 
of  granite  quarried  in  the  neighborhood.  The 
foundation  has  been  deeply  and  substantially  laid, 
and  the  superstructure  carried  up  some  ten  or 
twelve  feet  above  the  ground.  And  here  the  work 
rests  for  want  of  funds.  An  application  was  made 
by  the  people  of  Wyoming  to  the  Legislature  of 
Connecticut,  for  aid  in  the  completion  of  this  work 
of  piety  and  patriotism.  The  case  was  ably 
presented  to,  and  enforced  upon  that  body,  by 
a  committee  from  Wyoming,  at  the  head  of  which 
was    Charles    Miner — but    without   present    sue- 


240  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

cess.  It  is  to  be  hoped,  however,  that  a  renew- 
ed application  will  be  more  fortunate.  The  towns 
in  Wyoming  during  the  whole  of  the  war  of 
the  Revolution,  though  not  exactly  an  integral 
part  of  Connecticut,  yet  as  much  belonged  to  that 
state  as  did  New-London,  Norwalk,  Danbury,  or 
Fairfield.  These  towns,  which  were  burnt  and 
desolated  by  the  enemy,  received  remuneration 
from  the  state.  But  neither  of  them  suffered  the 
horrors  of  Wyoming;  and  although  Wyoming 
contributed  her  full  proportion  of  revenue  to  the 
treasury  of  the  state,  and  raised  a  goodly  number 
of  the  "  Connecticut  line,"  and  poured  out  her 
best  blood  like  water,  and  almost  swelled  the  tor- 
rent of  the  Susquehanna  with  her  tears,  yet  of 
compensation  she  never  received  a  dollar.  And 
now  that  she  appeals  for  a  few  thousand  dollars 
to  perpetuate  the  remembrance  of  the  martyrs  who 
bled,  and  of  the  cause  in  which  they  fell,  it  would 
be  a  burning  shame — a  disgrace  which  every  son 
of  Connecticut  should  forever  feel — to  have  the 
petition  denied. 

At  a  house  near  by  the  monument,  preserved, 
as  they  should  be,  with  holy  care,  are  such  of  the 
bones  of  the  slain  as  have  been  from  time  to  time 
collected.  These  are  to  be  deposited  in  a  cham- 
ber of  the  monument. 

Several  of  the  larger  bones — of  thighs,  and  arms, 
and   shoulder-blades,  are  perforated  with  bullet- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  241 

holes — rifle  balls,  evidently,  by  the  size.  Every 
skull  save  one  bears  the  mark  of  the  deadly  toma- 
hawk, and  exhibits  the  process  of  the  savage  ope- 
ration. The  Indians  seem  not  to  have  struck  ver- 
tically downward,  but  by  a  glancing  side  blow, 
chipped  out  a  piece  from  the  crown,  of  two  or  three 
inches  diameter.  One  of  the  skulls  received  two 
strokes  of  the  hatchet ;  a  cut  just  described  upon 
the  crown,  and  a  second  in  the  side  of  the  head, 
just  by  the  ear. 

About  midway  between  the  site  of  Fort  Forty 
and  the  place  where  the  conflict  was  begun  is  the 
pleasant  village  of  Troy.  This  is  an  interesting 
place,  as  the  enemy  appear  to  have  halted  in  its 
neighborhood  at  the  close  of  the  massacre.  In 
a  field  about  sixty  rods  east  of  the  highway  is  the 
bloody  rock  upon  which  the  prisoners  were  exe- 
cuted by  the  Indians,  during  the  night  of  the  bat- 
tle as  heretofore  described.  It  has  a  red,  or  rather 
brick-dust  appearance  on  one  side,  believed  by  the 
superstitious  to  have  been  caused  by  blood  which 
winter  storms  cannot  wash  nor  time  wear  away. 

Fort  Forty  stood  upon  the  banks  of  the  river,  and 
the  spot  is  preserved  as  a  common — beautifully 
carpeted  with  green,  but  bearing  no  distinctive 
marks  denoting  the  purposes  for  which  the  ground 
in  those  troublous  times  was  occupied.  Near  the 
site  of  the  fort,  is  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Myers,  a 
widow  lady  of  great  age,  but  of  clear  mind  and 
23 


242  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

excellent  memory,  who  is  a  survivor  of  the  Wyo- 
ming invasion,  and  the  horrible  scenes  attending  it. 
Mrs.  Myers  was  the  daughter  of  a  Mr.  Bennett, 
whose  family  was  renowned  in  the  domestic  an- 
nals of  Wyoming,  both  for  their  patriotism  and 
their  courage.  She  was  born  in  1762,  and  was  of 
course  sixteen  years  old  at  the  time  of  the  invasion. 
She  was  in  Fort  Forty  when  Colonel  Zebulon  But- 
ler marched  out  at  the  head  of  the  provincials 
against  the  enemy.  Her  recollections  of  all  that 
passed  beneath  her  eye  on  that  occasion  are  re- 
markably vivid.  The  column  marched  forth  three 
or  four  abreast,  in  good  spirits,  though  not  uncon- 
scious of  the  danger  they  were  to  encounter.* 
Still,  they  were  not  apprized  of  the  odds  against 
them,  since  the  enemy  had  most  skilfully  concealed 
his  strength. 

Soon  after  the  departure  of  the  provincials,  seve- 
ral horsemen  galloped  up  from  below,  their  steeds 
in  a  foam,  and  the  sweat  dripping  from  their  sides. 
They  proved  to  be  Captain  Durkee,  Lieutenant 
Pearce,  and  another  officer,  who,  having  heard  of 
the  invasion,  had  left  the  detachment  of  troops  to 
which  they  belonged,  then  distant  fifty  miles,  and 
ridden  all  night  to  aid  in  the  defence  of  their  wives, 
their  children,  and  their  homes.     "  A  morsel  of 


♦  One  of  the  settlers,  a  man  named  Finrh,  had  been  shot  and  scalped 
two  (lay-t  before,  in  a  gorge  of  the  mountains  near  the  upper  section  of 
the  valley. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  243 

food  and  we  will  follow,"  said  these  brave  men. 
The  table  was  hastily  spread,  and  they  all  partook 
of  their  last  meal.  Before  the  sun  went  down  they 
were  numbered  with  the  dead.  The  inmates  of 
the  fort  could  distinctly  hear  the  firing  from  the 
commencement  of  the  battle.  At  first,  from  its 
briskness,  they  were  full  of  high  hopes.  But  as 
it  began  to  change  into  a  scattered  fire,  and  the 
sounds  grew  nearer  and  nearer,  their  hearts  sank 
with  the  apprehension  that  the  day  was  lost,  and 
their  defenders  on  the  retreat.  The  suspense  was 
dreadful,  and  was  sustained  until  near  night-fall, 
when  a  few  of  the  fugitives  rushed  into  the  fort, 
and  fell  down,  wounded,  exhausted  and  bloody ! 

Mrs.  Myers  was  present  at  the  capitulation  on 
the  following  day,  and  saw  the  victorious  entrance 
of  the  enemy,  six  abreast,  with  drums  beating  and 
colors  flying.  The  terms  of  cetpitulation  were  fair 
and  honorable,  but  as  the  reader  has  already  seen, 
the  Indians  regarded  them  not,  and  immediately 
began  to  rob,  plunder,  burn,  and  destroy.  Col. 
Dennison,  according  to  the  relation  of  Mrs.  Myers, 
sent  for  Colonel  John  Butler,  the  British  command- 
er. They  sat  down  together  by  a  table  on  which 
the  capitulation  had  been  written,  (yet  carefully 
preserved  by  Mrs.  Myers.)  She  and  a  younger 
girl  were  seated  within  the  fort  close  by,  and  heard 
every  word  they  uttered.  Colonel  Dennison  com- 
plained of  the  injuries  and  outrages  then  enacting 


244  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

by  the  saveiges.  "I  will  put  a  stop  to  it,  sir  —  I 
will  put  a  stop  to  it,"  said  Colonel  Butler.  But 
the  plundering  continued,  and  Butler  was  again 
sent  for  by  Colonel  Dennison,  who  remonstrated 
sharply  with  him  at  the  violation  of  the  treaty. 
"  We  have  surrendered  our  fort  and  arms  to  you," 
said  Colonel  Dennison,  "  on  the  pledge  of  your 
faith  that  both  life  and  property  should  be  protect- 
ed. Articles  of  capitulation  are  considered  sacred 
by  all  civilized  people."  "  I  tell  you  what,  sir," 
replied  Colonel  Butler,  waving  his  hand  emphati- 
cally, "  I  can  do  nothing  with  them :  I  can  do 
nothing  with  them."  And  probably  he  could  not, 
for  the  Indians,  in  the  end,  had  the  audacity  to 
strip  Colonel  Dennison  himself  of  his  hat  and  rifle- 
frock,  (a  dress  then  often  worn  by  the  oflicers.) 
Colonel  D.  was  not  inclined  to  submit  peaceably 
to  this  outrage,  but  the  brandishing  of  a  tomahawk 
over  his  head  compelled  his  acquiescence  —  not, 
however,  until,  during  the  parley,  the  colonel  had 
adroitly  transferred  his  purse  to  one  of  the  young 
ladies  present,  unobserved  by  the  Indians.  This 
purse  contained  only  a  few  dollars — but  it  was  in 
fact  the  whole  military  chest  of  Wyoming. 

Mrs.  Myers  represents  Colonel  John  Butler  as 
a  portly,  good  looking  man,  of  perhaps  forty-five, 
dressed  in  green,  the  uniform  of  his  corps,  with  a 
cap  and  plumes.  On  the  capitulation  of  Fort 
Forty,  as  the  victorious  Butler  entered  it,  his  quick 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  245 

eye  rested  upon  a  sergeant  of  the  Wyoming  troops, 
named  Boyd,  a  young  Englishman,  a  deserter  from 
the  royal  ranks,  who  had  been  serviceable  in  dril- 
ling the  American  recruits.  "  Boyd  !"  exclaimed 
Butler  on  recognising  him,  "  Go  to  that  tree  !"  "  I 
hope  your  honor,"  replied  Boyd,  "will  consider 
me  a  prisoner  of  war."  "  Go  to  that  tree  !"  re- 
peated Butler  with  emphasis.  The  deserter  com- 
plied with  the  order,  repaired  to  the  tree,  which 
was  without  the  fort,  and  at  a  signal  was  shot  down. 
Butler  drew  his  white  forces  away  from  the  valley 
shortly  after  the  capitulation.  But  the  Indians 
remained  about  the  settlements,  and  finished  the 
work  of  destruction.*  In  about  a  week  after  the 
battle,  the  torch  was  applied  to  most  of  the  dwel- 
ling houses  then  remaining,  and  Mrs.  Myers  saw 
that  of  her  father,  Mr.  Bennett,  in  flames  among 
the  number.  He,  with  his  family,  thereupon  fled 
from  the  valley  to  a  place  of  greater  security — 
Mrs.  Myers  and  her  sister,  Mrs.  Tuttle,  being 
among  the  fugitives. 

Mr.  Bennett  returned  to  Wyoming  early  in  the 

*  It  has  been  stated  by  several  authors,  that  the  British  Colonel  Butler 
was  a  kinsman  of  Colonel  Zebulon  Butler.  But  the  fact  is  not  so.  Colonel 
John  Butler  was  an  opulent  gentleman  residing  in  the  Mohawk  valley,  a 
neighbor  and  personal  friend  of  Sir  William,  and  afterward  of  Sir  John 
Johnson.  It  was  his  misfortune  to  be  engaged  in  a  branch  of  the  service 
which  has  covered  his  name,  in  history,  with  any  thing  but  honor.  Still  he 
was  a  very  respectable  man,  as  were  many  other  loyalists.  After  the  close 
of  the  war  of  the  revolution,  he  was  retained  in  the  British  Canadian  ser- 
vice, and  died  at  an  advanced  age,  much  respected  by  those  who  knew  him. 

23* 


246  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

following  spring,  and  was  soon  afterward  captured 
by  a  party  of  six  Indians,  with  his  son,  then  a  lad, 
and  Mr.  Hammond,  a  neighbor,  while  at  work  in 
the  field.  The  Indians  marched  them  toward  the 
North,  but  during  the  night  of  the  second  or  third 
day,  their  expedition  was  brought  to  a  sudden  and 
most  unexpected  close.  From  a  few  words  drop- 
ped by  one  of  the  Indians,  Mr.  Bennett  drew  the 
inference  that  it  was  their  design  to  murder  them. 
Having  requested  of  the  Indian  the  use  of  his 
moccasin  awl  to  set  a  button,  ''  No  want  button 
for  one  night,"  was  the  gruff  and  laconic  reply. 
He  therefore  resolved,  if  possible,  to  eifect  an  es- 
cape, and  while  the  captors  had  left  them  a  few 
moments  to  slake  their  thirst  at  a  spring,  a  plan 
for  that  purpose  was  concerted.  Mr.  Bennett, 
being  in  years,  was  permitted  to  travel  unbound. 
Han  mond  and  the  boy  were  pinioned.  At  night 
they  all  lay  down  to  sleep,  except  one  of  the  In- 
dians and  Mr  Bennett.  The  latter,  having  gather- 
ed the  wood  to  keep  up  the  fire  for  the  night,  sat 
down,  and  soon  afterward  carelessly  took  the  In- 
dian's spear  in  his  hand,  and  began  to  play  with  it 
upon  his  lap.  The  Indian  now  and  then  cast  a 
half-suspicious  glance  upon  him,  but  continued 
his  employment — picking  the  scanty  flesh  from  the 
head  of  a  deer  which  he  had  been  roasting.  The 
other  Indians,  wearied,  had  wrapped  themselves 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  247 

in  their  blankets,  and  by  their  snoring  gave  evi- 
dence of  being  in  a  deep  slumber. 

The  Indian  left  upon  the  watch,  moreover,  be- 
gan to  nod  over  his  supper  as  though  half  asleep. 
Watching  his  opportunity,  therefore,  Mr.  Bennett 
by  a  single  thrust  transfixed  the  savage  with  his 
own  spear,  who  fell  across  the  burning  logs  with 
a  groan.  Not  an  instant  was  lost  in  cutting  loose 
the  limbs  of  Hammond  and  the  lad.  The  other 
Indians  were  in  the  same  breath  attacked  by  the 
three,  and  the  result  was  that  five  of  the  tawny 
warriors  were  killed,  and  the  sixth  fled  howling 
with  a  hatchet  sticking  in  his  back.  The  victors 
thereupon  returned  in  triumph  to  the  valley,  bear- 
ing as  trophies  the  spoils  of  the  slain. 

In  the  pleasant  town  of  Kingston,  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river,  opposite  the  borough  of  Wllkes- 
barre,  resides  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Bidlack,  a  cler- 
gyman of  the  Methodist  denomination,  who,  with 
his  lady,  are  survivors  of  the  memorable  scenes  of 
177S,  already  described.  This  venerable  man  is 
between  eighty  and  ninety  years  of  age,  and  of 
clear  and  sound  mind.  He  is  of  a  tall  and  athletic 
form,  of  intellectual  and  strongly  marked  features 
and  in  the  full  pride  of  manhood,  his  presence  must 
have  been  commanding.  Mr.  Bidlack  was  not 
himself  in  the  battle  of  Wyoming,  not  being  at 
home  at  the  time  of  its  occurrence.  But  he  had 
a   brother,  Captain   James   Bidlack,  Jr.,  in    that 


248  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

bloody  affair,  who  bravely  fell  at  the  head  of 
his  company,  only  eight  of  whom  escaped  the 
horrors  of  that  day.  He  entered  the  field  with 
but  thirty-two  rank  and  file,  twenty-four  of  whom 
were  slain.  His  station  was  near  the  left  wing, 
but  he  refused  to  move  from  his  post,  although 
the  greater  portion  of  his  comrades  had  broken 
and  were  in  full  flight.  Their  father,  James  Bid- 
lack,  senior,  was  one  of  the  fathers  of  the  settle- 
ment ;  and  when  the  middle-aged  portion  of  their 
population  was  drawn  away  by  enhstment  in  the 
continental  army,  the  old  gentleman  commanded 
a  corps  of  aged  men,  exempts,  and  kept  garrison 
in  one  of  their  little  forts,  called  Plymouth.  Ben- 
jamin went  early  into  the  regular  service.  He 
was  with  Washington  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston, 
in  the  summer  of  1775,  and  saw  the  evacuation  of 
the  "rebel  town"  by  General  Sir  William  Howe. 
His  term  of  enlistment  expired  in  1777,  where- 
upon he  returned  to  his  parental  home,  and  for  a 
season  engaged  in  the  most  hazardous  and  fa- 
tiguing service  of  the  border.  Enlisting  again  in 
the  regular  service,  he  continued  in  tlie  army 
until  the  effectual  conclusion  of  the  war  by  the 
brilHant  conquest  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  at  York- 
town,  in  the  siege  of  which  fortress  he  partici- 
pated. Speaking  of  the  aflfair  one  day,  Mr.  Bid- 
lack  said,  "  Our  batteries  played  night  and  day : 
it  was  an  incessant  blaze  and  thunder — roar  and 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  249 

flash.  Midnight  was  hghted  up  so  that  you  might 
pick  up  a  glove,  almost  any  where  about  the 
works." 

In  1789,  the  year  subsequent  to  the  massacre, 
during  a  sudden  irruption  of  the  Indians,  Mr. 
James  Bidlack,  the  father,  was  seized  and  carried 
into  captivity,  and  did  not  obtain  a  release  until 
the  end  of  the  war.  He  also  lost  another  son  in 
batte  before  the  close  of  the  contest.  The  old 
gentleman  died  about  the  year  1810.  It  is  many 
years  since  Benjamin  became  a  minister  of  the 
gospel.  From  his  great  age  he  no  longer  offici- 
ates in  that  capacity,  but  it  is  said  of  his  preach- 
ing ''  that  he  spoke  as  he  had  fought,  with  impres- 
sive earnestness  and  ardent  sincerity." 

The  venerable  consort  of  Mr.  Bidlack  was 
eighty-one  years  of  age  in  the  year  1839,  and  of 
course  must  have  been  twenty  at  the  time  of  the 
battle.  Her  maiden  name  was  Gore,  a  member  of 
the  brave  family  so  many  of  whom  fell  in  the 
massacre,  as  related  in  a  preceding  chapter.  Five 
of  her  brothers  and  two  brothers-in-law  went  into 
the  battle,  and  her  father,  who  had  been  commis- 
sioned a  magistrate  in  the  preceding  spring,  by 
Governor  Trumbull,  was  one  of  the  aged  men 
left  for  the  defence  of  Fort  Forty,  while  Colonel 
Butler  marched  forth  to  meet  the  enemy.  Five 
of  her  brothers  were  left  dead  on  the  field,  and  a 
sixth  was  wounded.     She  was  herself  taken  pris- 


250  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

oner  in  Fort  Wyoming,  and  one  of  the  Indians 
placed  his  mark  upon  her  as  a  protection.  She 
stated*  that  after  the  capitulation  the  Indians 
treated  the  prisoners  kindly,  although  they  plun- 
dered them  of  every  thing  except  the  clothes  they 
had  on.  Some  of  the  females,  in  order  to  save 
w^hat  they  could,  arrayed  themselves  in  three  or 
four  dresses.  On  discovering  the  artifice,  how- 
ever, the  Indians  compelled  them  to  disrobe,  by 
threats  of  having  their  throats  cut. 

But  although  enjoying  the  protection  of  her  In- 
dian captors,  such  were  their  apprehensions  for 
the  future  that  Mrs.  Bidlack  fled  from  the  valley 
nine  days  afterward,  and  crossed  the  fearful  for- 
ests and  fens  of  the  Pokono  mountains  to  Strouds- 
burg,  taking  an  infant,  a  younger  sister,  with  her. 
Two  of  her  brothers  who  fell,  Asa  and  Silas,  were 
ensigns.  The  one  who  escaped,  Daniel,  was  the 
lieutenant  in  Captain  Durkee's  company,  the  sta- 
tion of  which  was  the  right  wing,  "  a  few  rods  be- 
low Wintermoot's  fort,  close  to  the  old  road  that 
led  up  through  the  valley.  Stepping  into  the  road, 
a  ball  struck  him  in  the  arm  ;  tearing  from  his 
body  a  portion  of  his  shirt,  he  applied  a  hasty 
bandage.  Just  at  that  moment  Captain  Durkee 
stepped  into  the  road  at  the  same  place.  *  Look 
out !'  said  Mr.  Gore,  ^  there  are  some  of  the  sava- 

•  To  the  author,  on  a  visit  made  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bidlack,  in  1839. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  251 

ges  concealed  under  yonder  heap  of  logs.'  At 
that  instant  a  bullet  struck  Captain  Durkee  in  the 
thigh.  When  retreat  became  inevitable,  Mr.  Gore 
endeavored  to  assist  his  captain  from  the  field  but 
found  it  impossible  ;  and  Durkee  said,  '  Save 
yourself,  Mr.  Gore — my  fate  is  sealed.'  Lieuten- 
ant Gore  then  escaped  down  the  road,  and  leap- 
ing the  fence  about  a  mile  below,  lay  couched  close 
under  a  bunch  of  bushes.  While  there,  an  Indi- 
an sprang  over  the  fence  and  stood  near  him.  Mr. 
Gore  said  he  could  see  the  white  of  his  eye, 
and  was  almost  sure  he  was  discovered.  A  mo- 
ment after  a  yell  was  raised  on  the  flats  below, 
when  the  Indian  drew  up  his  rifle  and  fired,  and 
instantly  ran  off*  in  that  direction."*  In  the  gray 
of  twilight,  after  the  fury  of  the  enemy  seemed  to 
have  spent  itself.  Gore  heard  two  persons  in  con- 
versation near  the  road  where  he  was  lying,  one 
of  whom,  by  his  voice,  he  judged  to  be  Colonel 
John  Butler,  the  enemy's  leader.  "  It  has  been  a 
hard  day  for  the  Yankees,"  said  one  of  them. 
"  Yes,"  replied  the  other,  ''  there  has  been  blood 
enough  shed." 

The  name  of  one  of  Mrs.  Bidlack's  brothers-in- 
law,  who  fell,  was  Murfee.  In  the  evening  the 
distress  of  his  wife  was  very  great — and  rendered 
still  more   poignant   by   the  apprehension  that  he 

*  Hazleton  Travellers. 


25S  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

might  have  been  captured,  and  would  be  put  to 
the  torture.  It  was  some  relief  to  the  bitterness 
of  her  anguish  to  learn  on  the  following  day  that 
he  had  been  killed  outright.  Mrs.  Murfee,  too, 
fled  to  the  mountains,  and  wandered  back  to  her 
native  place, — Norwich,  in  Connecticut, — where 
a  few  days  after  her  arrival  among  her  friends,  she 
gave  birth  to  an  infant. 

This  case  of  the  Gore  family  is  certainly  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  in  the  history  of  man.  Rare- 
ly, indeed,  if  ever,  in  the  progress  of  the  most 
bloody  civil  conflicts,  has  it  happened  before,  or 
since,  that  a  father  and  six  sons  have  been  enga- 
ged in  the  same  battle-field.  Five  corpses  of  a  sin- 
gle family  sleeping  upon  the  cold  bed  of  death  to- 
gether, upon  the  self  same  night.  What  a  price 
did  that  family  pay  for  liberty  ! 

There  was,  however,  another  case  nearly  paral- 
lel, and  equally  interesting.  A  brave  family  resi- 
ded in  the  valley  named  Inman,  consisting  of  the 
father,  mother,  and  seven  sons.  The  former  was 
too  old  to  go  into  the  fight.  Five  of  the  sons 
went ;  and  two  others,  one  of  whom  was  nineteen 
years  old,  and  the  other  quite  a  lad,  would  have 
gone  but  for  the  want  of  arms.  It  was  one  of  the 
many  untoward  circumstances  under  which  the 
people  were  suffering,  that  by  the  terms  of  enlist- 
ment prescribed  by  Congress,  the  regular  troops 
raised  in  Wyoming  were  obliged  to  supply  their 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  253 

own  arms.  Hence,  at  the  time  of  the  invasion, 
all  the  best  arms  of  the  valley  were  with  the  sol- 
diers attached  to  the  continental  army.  Two  of 
the  younger  Inmans,  therefore,  were  compelled  to 
remain  at  home  with  their  aged  parents.  Two  of 
those  who  went  forth,  Elijah  and  Israel,  went  to 
return  no  more — both  having  been  slain.  "  Two 
escaped  without  injury ;  and  the  fifth,  hotly  pur- 
sued, plunged  into  the  river,  overheated  with  ex- 
ertion, and  hid  himself  under  the  willows.  He 
might  as  well  have  fallen  in  the  fight ;  for  a  cold 
settled  upon  his  lungs,  and  carried  him  in  a  few 
weeks  to  his  grave."*  Of  the  two  brothers  who 
escaped,  one,  Richard,  had  the  satisfaction  of  sa- 
ving the  fife  of  his  neighbor,  Rufus  Bennett,  from 
the  tomahawk  of  a  stalwart  Indian,  when  in  the 
act  of  leaping  upon  him.  Bennett  and  the  Indi- 
an had  both  fired  without  effect,  and  the  latter, 
with  his  uplifted  tomahawk  flashing  in  the  air, 
was  in  the  act  of  springing  upon  him,  when  the 
rifle  of  Richard  Inman  brought  him  with  a  convul- 
sive bound  dead  within  a  few  feet  of  his  intended 
victim.  But  the  tale  of  sorrow  in  this  patriotic 
family  is  not  yet  ended.  In  common  with  the 
other  surviving  inhabitants  of  the  valley,  the  pa- 
rents with  their  remaining  sons  escaped  to  the 
Delaware.     With  others,  however,  toward  winter, 

*  Hazleton  Travellers. 

24 


254  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

they  returned  for  the  purpose  of  so  wing  their  fields 
with  wheat.  Soon  after  the  season  of  snows  had 
set  in,  one  of  the  young  men,  Isaac,  aged  nine- 
teen, imagining  that  he  heard  the  rusthng  of  a  flock 
of  wild  turkeys  in  a  neighboring  forest,  sallied 
forth  with  his  fowling-piece  to  bring  some  of  them 
in — not  anticipating  that  danger  was  lurking  so 
near.  He  had  not  been  long  in  the  forest  before 
the  discharge  of  a  musket  was  heard,  and  the  fami- 
ly were  shortly  expecting  his  return,  laden  with 
the  prize  of  his  skill.  He  came  not.  A  sleepless 
night  was  passed,  but  there  was  no  return.  The 
hearts  of  his  fond  parents  sank  within  them  at 
the  tidings  that  the  trail  of  an  Indian  scouting 
party  had  been  discovered  in  the  neighborhood. 
Still  hope  ever  whispered  the  flattering  tale  that 
their  young  and  promising  son, — for  he  was  in- 
deed a  youth  of  uncommon  grace  and  beauty, — 
had  been  taken  a  captive,  and  would  perhaps  find 
his  way  back  in  the  spring.  But,  alas  !  the  spring 
came,  and  the  dissolving  snow  revealed  a  sadder 
tale.  The  body  of  the  youth  was  found  in  the 
edge  of  a  little  creek  passing  through  the  farm. 
He  had  been  shot,  and  an  Indian's  war-club  lay 
by  his  side.  His  body  was  cruelly  mangled  and 
his  light  silken  hair  was  yet  stained  with  blood, 
drawn  by  the  hatchet  and  scalping-knife.* 

"  Death  found  straiifje  beauty  on  his  manly  brow, 
And  dashed  it  out." 

♦  Hazleton  Travellers. 


HISTORY    01'    WYOMING.  255 

Thus  perished  four  of  this  devoted  family  in  the 
course  of  that  memorable  year.* 

The  name  of  Colonel  John  Jenkins  has  more 
than  once  occurred  in  the  preceding  pages.  This 
gentleman  was  an  early  emigrant  to  the  valley, 
and  presided  at  the  meeting  of  the  inhabitants 
in  the  beginning  of  the  revolutionary  troubles, 
when  the  patriotic  resolutions  mentioned  in  a  for- 
mer chapter,  in  opposition  to  the  unconstitutional 
acts  of  Parliament,  were  adopted.  The  old  gentle- 
man was  an  active  patriot  until  after  the  massa- 
cre, when  he  removed  to  Orange  county  in  the 
State  of  New- York  ;  closing  there  an  honorable 
and  well-spent  life.  He  had  a  son.  Lieutenant 
John  Jenkins,  no  less  a  patriot  than  himself,  who 
had  been  married  shortly  previous  to  the  massa- 
cre, and  who  did  the  cause  good  service.  He  was 
taken  prisoner  by  a  band  of  Indians,  while  on  a 
reconnoitring  party,  near  AVyalusing,  sixty  miles 
above  Wyoming,  in  November,  1777,  and  car- 
ried to  Niagara.  It  happened  that,  at  the  same  time, 
the  Americans  held  captive  at  Albany  a  distin- 
guished Indian  warrior,  for  whom  Colonel  John 
Butler  determined  to  exchange  Mr.  Jenkins.  For 
this  purpose  he  sent  the  latter  to  the  American 
lines,  under  a  strong  escort  of  Indians.     But  the 


*  One  of  the  survivors  of  these  melancholy  scenes,  Colonel  Edward  In- 
man,  a  man  of  wealth  and  character,  yet,  (1839,)  resides  in  the  valley,  a 
*ew  miles  below  Wilkesbarre. 


266  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

party  was  short  of  provisions,  and  from  the  fa- 
tigues of  the  march,  and  other  privations,  Mr.  Jen- 
kins almost  perished.  Nay,  he  came  near  being 
murdered  in  one  of  the  drunken  carousals  of  the 
Indians,  and  was  only  saved  by  the  fidelity  of 
a  young  warrior,  whom  he  had  succeeded  in 
securing  as  his  friend.  This  faithful  savage  kept 
himself  perfectly  sober,  in  order  to  the  more  ef- 
fectual preservation  of  the  life  of  his  prisoner. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  party  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Albany,  it  was  ascertained  that  the  chief  for 
whom  Jenkins  was  to  be  exchanged,  had  died  of 
the  small  pox.  The  Indians,  greatly  incensed  at 
this  loss  of  a  favorite  warrior,  were  resolved  upon 
taking  Jenkins  back  with  them  into  captivity,  and 
Jenkins  himself  believed  it  was  their  intention  to 
murder  him  as  soon  as  they  should  have  with- 
drawn beyond  striking  distance  from  Albany.  His 
release,  however  was  ultimately  negotiated,  and 
he  made  his  way  back  to  Wyoming,  to  the  com- 
pany of  his  friends,  and  to  the  embrace  of  his 
young  wife,  whom  he  had  recently  married. 

During  the  latter  years  of  the  war.  Lieutenant 
Jenkins  was  in  the  habit  of  keeping  a  diary,  or  re- 
cord of  current  events  in  the  valley.  From  this 
diary  a  few  extracts  have  been  made,  which  show 
how  constantly  the  settlers  were  harrassed  by  the 
subtle  and  ever-active  enemy  with  whom  they 
were  obliged  to  contend  : — 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  257 

^'  January  llth,  1780.  A  party  of  men  set  out 
to  go  through  the  swamp,  (across  the  Pokono 
range)  on  snow-shoes,  the  snow  about  three  feet 
deep. 

^^  Feb.  2d. — Two  soldiers  went  to  Capowes, 
and  froze  themselves  badly. 

*'  Feb.  1th. — Colonel  Butler  set  out  for  New- 
England. 

"  March  21th. — Bennett  and  son,  and  Ham- 
mond taken  and  carried  off — supposed  to  be  done 
by  the  Indians.  The  same  day  Upson  was  killed 
and  scalped  near  William  Stewart's  house,  and 
young  Rogers  taken. 

"March  28th. — Several  scouting  parties  sent 
out  but  made  no  discoveries  of  the  enemy. 

*'  March  29th. — Esquire  Franklin  went  to  Hun- 
tington on  a  scout,  and  was  attacked  by  the  Indi- 
ans, at  or  near  his  own  house,  and  two  of  his  party 
murdered — Ransom  and  Parker. 

"  March  30th. — Mrs.  Pike  came  in  this  day, 
and  informed  that  she  and  her  husband  were  in 
the  woods  making  sugar,  and  were  surrounded  by 
a  party  of  about  thirty  Indians,  who  had  several 
prisoners  with  them,  and  two  horses.  They  took 
her  husband  and  carried  him  off  with  them,  and 
painted  her  and  sent  her  in.  They  killed  the 
horses  before  they  left  the  cabin  where  she  was. 
One  of  the  prisoners  told  her  that  the  Indians  had 
killed  three  or  four  men  at  Fishing  Creek. 

24* 


B68  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

"  Captain  Spalding  set  out  for  Philadelphia  this 
morning,  Slc.  This  day  the  Indians  took  Jones, 
Avery,  and  Lyon,  at  Cooper's. 

'*  April  4th. — Pike,  and  two  men  from  Fishing 
Creek,  and  two  boys  that  were  taken  by  the  Indi- 
ans, made  their  escape  by  rising  on  their  guard  of 
ten  Indians  —  killed  three  —  and  the  rest  took  to 
the  woods  naked,  and  left  the  prisoners  with 
twelve  guns  and  about  thirty  blankets,  &c.  These 
the  prisoners  got  safe  to  the  fort.* 

"  May  11th,  —  Sergeant  Baldwin  went  to  Lack- 
awana,  and  found  a  man  which  ran  away  from 
the  Indians,  and  brought  him  in.  He  infoiTned 
that  he  was  taken  by  a  party  of  ten  Indians  and 
one  tory,  near  Fort  Allen. f  This  day  the  people 
were  alarmed  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  William 
Perry  came  in  from  Delaware  in  the  evening,  and 
informed  that  about  sunrise  this  morning  he  saw  a 
party  of  Indians  near  the  Laurel  Run,  and  several 
parties  between  that  and  the  fort,  by  reason  of 
which  he  was  detained  until  that  time  in  com- 
ing in. 

^^  May  ISth.  —  Several  reconnoitring  parties 
sent  out,  but  made  no  discoveries  except  a  few 
tracks  in  the  road  near  the  mountain. 

♦The  true  version  of  this  exploit  of  Pike,  will  appear  a  few  pages  on- 
ward, in  the  story  of  Major  Van  Cainpcn. 

t  Fort  Allen  was  upon  the  Lehigh  river,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Mo- 
ravian settlements,  fifty  miles  south,  or  southeast  of  Wyoming. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  259 

"  June  lOih.  —  A  party  of  our  men  brought  in 
three  tories,  which  they  took  at  Waysock's. 
These  set  out  from  New-York  with  the  intent  to 
travel  through  the  country  to  Niagara  —  Bowman 
and  son,  Hover  and  Philip  Buck  in  Company,  but 
(the  latter)  made  their  escape  when  the  others 
were  taken. 

"  July  1  ith.  — Bowman,  Hover,  and  Sergeant 
Leaders,  sent  to  head  quarters  in  order  for  trial. 

*^  Monday,  Sept.  4th.  —  Sergeant  Baldwin  and 
Searle  came  in  from  a  scout,  and  brought  in  a 
horse  and  a  quantity  of  plunder  of  different  kinds, 
which  they  took  from  a  party  of  Indians  near 
Tunkhannock  creek,  on  Saturday  before. 

"Thursday,  Sept.  \4th.  —  Lieutenant  Myers, 
from  Fort  Allen,  came  into  the  Fort,  and  said  he 
had  made  his  escape  from  the  Indians  the  night 
before,  and  that  he  had  been  taken  in  the  Scotch 
Valley,  and  that  he  had  thirty-three  men  with  him, 
which  he  commanded.  He  was  surrounded  by 
the  Indians,  and  thirteen  of  his  men  killed  and 
three  taken.  This  day  we  heard  that  Fort  Jen- 
kins and  Hervey's  Mills  were  burnt. 

"  December  6th.  —  In  the  morning  a  party  of 
tories  and  Indians  took  some  prisoners  from  Shaw- 
wanee  —  [west  of  the  river,  four  miles  below 
Wilkesbarre.]  Did  no  other  damage,  except 
taking  a  small  quantity  of  plunder. 

"  December  6th.  —  A   party   of  our   men  sent 


260  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

after  them,  and  pursued  them  three  days,  and 
gave  out. 

"Jan.  236?,  1781.  —  Captain  Mitchell  came  to 
Wyoming  in  order  to  release  Colonel  Butler. 

"  January  24th.  —  Captain  Selin  and  myself 
set  out  for  Philadelphia." 

Lieutenant  Jenkins  was  an  active  officer  during 
the  whole  contest,  and  signalized  himself  in  sever- 
al brisk  affairs  with  the  Indians.  When  General 
Sullivan  marched  from  Wyoming  to  lay  waste  the 
Genesee  country,  he  selected  Lieutenant  Jenkins 
as  his  guide  or  conductor.  He  fought  bravely  in 
the  battle  of  Newtown,  and  after  the  close  of  the 
war,  was  for  many  years  a  surveyor  in  the  Susque- 
hanna and  Genesee  countries.  He  became  an 
influential  citizen  in  Wyoming,  and  held  various 
important  offices,  —  sometimes  representing  the 
County  of  Luzerne  in  the  Legislature  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. He  was  the  leader  of  the  democratic  party 
in  that  county,  and  died  about  the  year  1S28, — 
greatly  respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 

The  widow  of  Lieutenant,  or  rather  Colonel 
Jenkins  —  for,  like  his  father,  he  had  long  worn 
the  latter  title  before  his  death — Mrs.  Berthia  Jen- 
kins, yet  survives,  at  the  age  of  eighty  six. — For  a 
lady  of  her  years,  she  is  remarkably  active,  and  her 
mind  and  memory  are  still  unclouded.  It  will  be 
borne  in  mind  that  on  entering  the  valley,  the  first 
halt  of  Colonel  Butler  and  his  Indian  allies,  was  at 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  261 

Fort  Wintermoot,  upon  the  west  bank  of  the  river 
perhaps  a  mile  above  the  battle  field.  Mrs.  Jen- 
kins, then  just  married,  was  in  Fort  Jenkins,  at  the 
time  of  Butler's  arrival,  about  a  mile  yet  farther  to 
the  north.  The  fidehty  of  the  Wintermoots  to  the 
cause  of  the  revolution,  had  been  questioned  pre- 
vious to  the  arrival  of  Colonel  John  Butler,  and  the 
erection  of  their  little  fort  had  caused  some  remark, 
inasmuch  as  Fort  Jenkins  was  so  near  that  this 
additional  stockade  was  hardly  deemed  necessary. 
But  on  the  arrival  of  the  enemy,  all  disguise  was 
thrown  off  by  the  Wintermoots,  and  Colonel  Butler 
with  his  troops  and  Indians  were  received  as  friends, 
— showing  that  there  had  been  a  perfect  under- 
standing between  the  parties,  and  that  the  suspect- 
ed family  had  in  fact  been  plotting  the  destruction 
of  their  own  neighbors.  A  detachment  was  im- 
mediately sent  against  Fort  Jenkins,  with  a  demand 
for  its  surrender, — a  demand  which  could  not  be 
resisted,  as  there  were  only  nine  or  ten  persons  in 
the  little  defence,  old  and  young.  Mrs.  Jenkins 
of  course  became  a  prisoner.  This  was  on  the  2d 
of  July.  The  battle  was  on  the  3rd,  and  the 
moment  it  was  known  that  the  Yankees  were 
marching  up  to  the  attack  from  Fort  Forty,  the 
detachment  which  had  taken  Fort  Jenkins  was 
recalled  to  the  main  body.  Mrs.  Jenkins  follow- 
ed to  the  distance  of  half  way  between  the  forts. 


262  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

and  sat  down  upon  a  stump  in  the  field,  with  an 
anxious  heart,  to  await  the  issue.  She  heard  the 
firing  as  it  commenced  and  ran  along  the  line 
from  right  to  left,  until  it  became  general.  She 
also  heard  the  war-whoops  of  the  Indians.  By 
and  bye  the  whoopings  became  more  fierce,  and 
the  firing  broken.  Then  it  was  less  frequent  and 
more  distant,  while  the  yells  of  the  savages  grew 
more  frightful,  giving  ^'  signs  of  wo  that  all  was 
lost."  The  next  morning  the  prisoners  from  Fort 
Jenkins  were  taken  down  to  Wintermoot's.  Among 
them  was  a  Mrs.  Gardiner,  whose  husband  had 
been  captured  in  the  skirmish  at  Exeter  two  days 
before.  She  was  now  permitted  to  go  down  to  the 
enemy,  to  take  leave  of  him.  Mrs.  Jenkins,  and 
a  Mrs.  Baldwin,  whose  husband  was  in  the  battle, 
with  an  old  man,  her  father-in-law,  carrying  a  flag, 
were  allowed  to  go  in  company  with  Mrs.  Gardiner. 
Mrs.  Baldwin  could  obtain  no  tidings  of  her  hus- 
band, and  returned  with  a  heavier  heart  than  she 
went.  This  visit  enabled  Mrs.  Jenkins  to  take  a 
survey  of  the  battle  field  ;  and  her  descriptions  are 
as  vivid  as  they  are  shocking.  She  discovered 
numbers  among  the  dead,  of  her  late  friends  and 
neighbors.  In  one  place  there  was  a  circle  of  the 
dead,  lying  as  they  had  fallen,  scalped  and  man- 
gled. In  another,  were  the  smouldering  embers 
of  a  fire,  around  which  were  strowed  the  half-burnt 
limbs  of  those  who  had  been  put  to  death  by  tor- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  263 

ture.*  By  some  means  the  liberation  of  Mrs. 
Jenkins  was  effected,  and  she  fled  the  valley  with 
other  fugitives,  returning  thither  eighteen  months 
afterward.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  related  by  Mrs. 
Jenkins,  that  the  people  of  Wyoming  were  in  part 
dependent  upon  themselves  for  their  own  gun- 
powder, which  the  women  rudely  manufactured 
by  leeching  the  earth  for  the  salt-petre,  and  then 
compounding  it  with  charcoal  and  sulphur  as  best 
they  could  with  such  means  as  were  at  hand. 

There  was  a  brave  family  named  Blackman, 
residents  of  the  valley,  two  of  whom,  then  young 
men,  now  far  down  the  vale  of  years,  are  yet  Hv- 
ing,  —  farmers  of  wealth  and  character.  Their 
father,  being  too  old  to  go  out  upon  the  war-path, 
remained  within  Fort  Wyoming  during  the  action, 
performing  his  duty,  however,  as  an  oflicer  of  a 
veteran  corps  previously  instituted,  called  the  Re- 
formadoes.  Mr.  Blackman's  eldest  son,  Eleazer, 
went  into  the  battle,  with  a  young  man  named 
David  Spofibrd,  who,  two  months  before,  had  been 
married  to  his  sister, —  Lavina  Blackman.  The 
two  young  men  together  with  a  brother  of  Spof- 
ford,  named  Phineas,  fought  side  by  side,  until 
David  received  his  death-wound.     Falling  upon 

*  Scarse  could  he  footing  find  in  that  fowle  way, 
For  many  corses,  like  a  great  lay  stall. 
Which  murdered  men,  which  therein  strowed  lay 
Without  remorse,  or  decent  funerall. 

Spencer^s  Faerie  Queene. 


264  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

his  brother's  arm,  he  said,  —  "I  am  mortally  hurt, 
take  care  of  Lavina  !"  These  were  his  last  words. 
Other  members  of  the  Blackman  family  did  good 
service  during  the  war,  in  the  valley  and  else- 
where. 

Among  the  survivors  of  the  massacre,  yet  lin- 
gering in  the  valley,  are  Mr.  Samuel  Carey  and 
Mr.  Baldwin.  The  former  was  nineteen  years 
old  at  the  time  of  the  battle.  He  belonged  to 
Captain  Bidlack's  company,  forming  a  part  of 
the  left  wing  of  the  line,  which  was  first  out-flank- 
ed and  thrown  into  confusion.  In  the  flight  that 
ensued,  he  was  accompanied  by  Zippera  Hibbard, 
his  file-leader  in  the  line.  Hibbard  was  also  a 
a  young  man,  remarkable  for  the  height  and  beau- 
ty of  his  form,  as  well  as  for  his  great  strength 
and  superior  agility.  In  all  the  athletic  sports 
among  the  settlers  he  was  a  leader,  and  such  were 
his  muscular  powers,  and  his  feats  of  running  and 
leaping,  that  had  he  lived  to  engage  in  the  Olymp- 
ic games  of  classsic  Greece,  he  would  doubtless 
often  have  won  the  crown. 

He  hail  just  been  married  at  the  time  of  the  in- 
vasion, and  tradition  reports  the  parting  scene 
from  his  youthful  bride  to  have  been  one  of  ten- 
der interest.  Fear  was  a  stranger  to  his  breast ; 
but  there  were  ties  binding  him  to  his  home  which 
could  not  be  severed  without  a  severe  struggle. 
He  knew,    from    the  superiority  of  the  enemy's 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  265 

force,  that  the  battle  would  be  fought  upon  un- 
equal terms,  and  perhaps  his  mind  was  clouded 
with  a  presentiment  that  he  should  not  return 
from  the  field  he  was  preparing  to  enter.  After 
adjusting  his  arms,  therefore,  he  yet  for  a  moment 
lingered  —  stepped  forward,  and  back  again  — 
paused  —  and  musingly  hesitated.  At  length  he 
ran  back  to  the  embrace  of  his  bride,  impart- 
ed another  kiss  upon  her  pale  and  trembling 
lips  —  but  spoke  not  a  word,  as  he  tore  himself 
finally  away.  "  The  next  hour,"  to  quote  the 
words  of  Charles  Miner,  "  there  was  not  a  soldier 
that  marched  to  the  field  with  more  cheerful  alac- 
rity."* 

But  alas !  If  he  had  entertained  any  gloomy 
forebodings,  they  were  but  too  fatally  reahzed. 
In  their  flight,  Hibbard  and  Carey  took  to  a  field 
of  rye,  tall,  and  ready  for  the  sickle.  The  former 
being  in  advance,  broke  the  path  for  his  junior 
comrade ;  and  in  doing  so,  by  the  time  they  had 
crossed  the  field,  he  became  fatigued  almost  to 
exhaustion.  Their  object  was  to  escape  to  the 
island  already  mentioned ;  but  the  Indians  were 
in  hot  pursuit,  and  Hibbard  was  overtaken  just 
as  he  had  gained  the  sandy  beach,  and  ere  he  could 
reach  the  stream.  He  turned  to  defend  himself, 
but  in  the  same  instant  fell  transfixed  by  the  spear 
of  his  dusky  pursuer. 

*  Hazlcton  Travellers. 

25 


^66  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

Young  Carey  was  more  fortunate.  Having 
been  less  fatigued  in  the  rye  field  than  his  com- 
panion who  had  broken  the  way,  he  was  enabled 
to  continue  his  flight  farther  down  the  river,  be- 
fore he  attempted  crossing  to  the  island.  The 
Indians,  however,  watching  his  movements,  swam 
the  river  above  more  rapidly  than  himself,  and  he 
reached  the  island  only  to  become  their  prisoner. 
He  was  then  compelled  to  recross  the  river  by 
swimming,  and  carried  back  to  Fort  Wintermoot. 
This  defence  had  been  fired  by  the  enemy  them- 
selves, and  was  yet  in  flames  when  Carey  reached 
it.  The  painfulness  of  the  scene  was  increased 
by  the  sight  of  the  bodies  of  one  or  more  of  his 
neighbors,  which  had  been  thrown  upon  the  burn- 
ing pile — 

*•  By  the  smoke  of  their  ashes  to  poison  the  gale  :** 

but  whether  they  had  been  thus  disposed  before 
or  after  death,  he  could  not  tell.  He  had  been 
stripped  to  his  skin  previous  to  leaving  the  island, 
and  was  threatened  with  menacing  strokes  of  the 
scalping  knife. 

But  his  life  was  reserved  for  another  destiny. 
It  appeared  that  his  captor  was  Captain  Roland 
Montour,  of  whose  mother  an  account  has  already 
been  given.  After  passing  the  night,  bound  to  the 
earth,  he  was  accosted  the  next  morning  by  CoL 
John  Butler  himself,  who  reminded  the  stripling 
of  a  threat  he  had  made  on  the  preceding  day, 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  267 

that  "  he  would  comb  the  Colonel's  hair,"  which 
threat  had  been  repeated  to  the  Tory  commander. 
Montour  then  came  and  unbound  him,  and  after 
giving  him  some  food,  led  him  to  a  young  Indian 
warrior  who  was  dying.  A  conversation  ensued 
between  the  captor  and  the  dying  warrior,  which 
Carey  did  not  then  understand.  It  afterward  ap- 
peared that  Montour  was  negotiating  with  the  young 
warrior  for  the  adoption  of  Carey  by  the  Indian's 
parents,  after  the  custom  of  those  people,  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  son  they  were  then  losing.  The 
dying  Indian  assented  to  the  arrangement,  and  the 
life  of  the  prisoner  was  saved.  He  was  painted, 
and  received  the  name  of  him  whose  place  he  was 
destined  to  take  in  the  Indian  family- -Co-con-e- 
un-quo — of  the  Onondaga  tribe. 

On  the  retreat  of  the  enemy,  Carey  was  taken 
into  the  Indian  country  with  them,  and  handed 
over  to  the  family  of  which  he  had  now  become 
a  member.  But  though  treated  with  kindness  by 
the  Indians,  he  was  too  old  to  be  broken  into  their 
habits  of  life.  He  sighed  for  his  liberty  and  the 
associations  of  his  own  kindred  and  people.  His 
new  parents  saw  that  he  was  not  likely  to  become 
a  contented  child,  and  as  consequently  the  place 
of  the  one  they  had  lost  was  not  filled,  they  mourn- 
ed their  own  son  even  as  David  mourned  for  Ab- 
salom. Mr.  Carey  gives  a  touching  account  of 
their  sorrow.      Often  did  he  hear  them,  as  they 


263  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

awoke  at  day-break,  setting  up  their  pitiful  cry 
for  their  son.  And  as  the  sun  sank  to  rest  behind 
the  purple  hills  at  evening,  they  would  repeat  the 
same  wailing  lament. 

He  resided  with  this  family  in  the  Indian  coun- 
try more  than  two  years,  after  which  he  was  taken 
to  Niagara,  where  he  remained  until  the  end  of 
the  war,  and  the  surrender  of  the  prisoners.  It 
was  on  the  2^th  of  June,  17S4,  that  he  once  more 
found  himself  in  the  bosom  of  the  vale  of  Wyo- 
ming. He  subsequently  married  Theresa  Gore,  a 
daughter  of  Captain  Daniel  Gore,  who  was  him- 
self in  the  battle,  and  five  of  whose  brothers  and 
brothers-in-law  were  slain,  as  the  reader  has  alrea- 
dy been  informed.  He  has  resided  in  the  valley 
ever  since,  and  although  the  morning  of  his  hfe 
was  stormy  and  sad,  yet,  surrounded  by  his  sons 
and  daughters  and  their  descendants,  its  evening 
is  tranquil  and  serene.  There  were  two  other  Ca- 
reys engaged  in  the  action,  Joseph  and  Samuel, 
both  of  whom  fell.  But  they  were  of  another 
family.  The  family  of  the  Samuel  Carey,  of  whom 
some  account  has  been  given  already,  were  from 
the  county  of  Dutchess  in  the  State  of  New-York. 

A  brief  history  of  another  family  of  sufferers 
will  perhaps  be  interesting.  Among  the  early 
settlers  of  the  valley  was  a  respectable  man  named 
John  Abbott,  who,  at  the  time  of  the  invasion,  had 
a  family  consisting  of  a  wife  and  nine  children. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  269 

As  has  already  been  stated,  more  than  once,  there 
was  but  a  single  field-piece  in  the  valley,  which 
was  kept  at  the  httle  fort  of  Wilkesbarre,  to  be 
used  as  an  alarm  gun.  On  the  approach  of  dan- 
ger, it  was  announced  from  its  brazen  throat,  and 
the  inhabitants  obeyed  the  signal  by  rallying  for 
the  common  defence.  When  the  news  of  the  in- 
vasion by  the  Tories  and  Indians  reached  Wilkes- 
barre, Abbott  was  at  work  with  his  oxen  upon  the 
flats,  whence  he  was  summoned  by  the  well-known 
sound  of  alarm.  Though  as  a  husband,  and  the 
parent  of  nine  young  children,  the  eldest  of  whom 
was  but  eleven  years  old,  all  depending  upon  his 
labor  for  support,  he  might  well  have  been  excused 
from  going  into  battle,  yet  he  sought  no  exemp- 
tion. The  danger  was  imminent,  and  with  as 
much  alacrity  as  his  neighbors  he  hastened  to  the 
battle-field.  In  the  retreat  he  succeeded,  by  the 
aid  of  a  comrade,  for  he  could  not  swim,  in  cross- 
ing to  Monockonock  Island,  and  thence  to  the 
main  land  on  the  east  of  the  river,  and  was  thus 
enabled  to  effect  his  escape. 

In  the  flight  of  the  inhabitants,  Mr.  Abbott  re- 
moved his  family  down  the  Susquehanna  to  Sun- 
bury  ;  but  having  left  his  property  behind  —  his 
flocks  and  herds  —  he  being  an  opulent  farmer 
for  those  days  —  and  his  fields  waving  with  a  rich 
burden  of  grain  nearly  ready  for  the  harvest,  he 
returned  to  look  after  the  fruit  of  his  labors.  This 
25* 


270  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

measure  was  indeed  necessary,  for  the  product  of 
his  farm  was  his  only  dependence  for  the  support 
of  his  family.  But  sad  was  the  spectacle  that 
met  his  view  on  his  return.  His  house  and  his 
barn  had  been  burnt,  his  cattle  slaughtered  or 
driven  away,  and  his  fields  ravaged.  The  glean- 
ings only  remained  to  require  his  attention. 
These  he  attempted  to  gather,  but  in  doing  so, 
while  engaged  in  the  field  with  a  neighbor  named 
Isaac  Williams,  a  young  man,  or  rather  youth  of 
eighteen  years,  of  fine  promise,  they  were  shot  by 
a  party  of  Indians  who  stole  upon  them  unawares, 
scalped,  and  left  dead  upon  the  spot.* 

The  widow,  with  her  helpless  charge,  being 
now  entirely  destitute,  was  compelled  to  seek  her 
way  back  to  Hampton,  an  eastern  town  in  Con- 
necticut, whence  they  had  emigrated,  a  distance 
of  more  than  three  hundred  miles,  on  foot  —  pen- 
nyless,  heart-broken,  and  dependent  upon  charity 
for  subsistence.  But  the  journey  was  effected 
without  loss  of  hfe  or  limb  ;  and  the  widowed 
Naomi  was  not  more  kindly  received  by  the  people 
of  Bethlehem,  on  her  return  from  the  land  of  Moab, 
than  were  Mrs.  Abbot  and  her  infant  charge  by 
their  former  friends  and  neighbors.  She  remained 
at  Hampton  several  years  after  the  troubles  were 
over,  and  until  her  sons  were  grown  up.     Return- 

♦  Tbis  Mr.  Abbot  built  the  first  bouse  in  the  borough  of  Wilkesbarr6. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  271 

ing  then  to  the  valley,  and  reclaiming  successfully 
the  estate  of  her  husband,  she  settled  thereon  with 
her  family,  married  a  celebrated  wit  named  Ste- 
phen Gardiner,  and  continued  to  live  there  until 
her  decease.  Her  son,  Stephen  Abbott,  an  inde- 
pendent and  respectable  farmer,  still  resides  upon 
the  eastern  margin  of  the  Susquehanna,  opposite 
the  site  of  Fort  Forty. 

The  Williams  family,  to  which  Isaac,  the  young 
man  whose  murder  in  connection  with  that  of  Mr. 
Abbott  has  just  been  related,  was  distinguished  for 
its  patriotism  and  bravery.  The  father  was  Thad- 
deus  Williams,  and  his  house  stood  not  far  from 
Fort  Wyoming,  in  the  borough  of  Wilkesbarre. 
He  had  a  son,  Thomas,  who  was  a  sergeant  in  the 
regular  service,  and  who,  with  short  intermissions, 
served  with  distinguished  gallantry  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  war.  It  was  mentioned  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  that  in  the  month  of  March, 
1779,  while  Captain  Spalding  was  in  command  of 
Fort  Wyoming,  a  sudden  irruption  of  tories  and 
Indians  took  place,  by  whom  the  fort  was  surround- 
ed. Happily,  however,  a  few  discharges  of  the 
only  field-piece  in  the  fortress  put  them  to  flight. 
But  the  severest  battle  fought  during  this  irruption 
was  between  the  Indians  and  Sergeant  Thomas 
Williams,  who  happened  to  be  at  home  on  fur- 
lough. His  father,  who  had  removed  back  to  the 
valley,  with  others,  after  the  general  desolation  the 


272  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

year  before,  was  at  this  time  indisposed,  and  in  bed. 
The  only  other  male  in  the  house,  besides  the  ser- 
geant, was  a  younger  brother  twelve  or  thirteen 
years  old.  The  position  of  Williams's  house  was 
such,  that  the  Indians  determined  to  take  and  de- 
stroy it  previous  to  their  meditated  attack  upon 
the  garrison.  There  were  three  loaded  muskets 
in  the  house,  and  plenty  of  ammunition.  Seeing 
the  Indians  approaching  his  castle,  the  sergeant 
made  his  dispositions  for  defence.  He  barrica- 
ded the  doors,  and  getting  his  guns  ready,  gave 
his  little  brother  the  necessary  directions  for  load- 
ing them  as  often  as  he  fired.  He  was  a  man  of 
too  much  coolness  and  experience  to  waste  his  am- 
munition. Waiting,  therefore,  until  the  Indians 
had  approached  very  near,  Williams  took  deliber- 
ate aim  between  the  logs  of  which  the  house  was 
constructed,  and  brought  their  leader  dead  to  the 
ground.  With  a  hideous  yell  his  comrades  re- 
treated, dragging  away  the  body.  They  advanced 
again,  and  assaulted  the  door,  which  was  too  well 
secured  easily  to  yield.  Their  numbers  were  now 
increased,  and  they  in  turn  fired  into  the  house, 
through  the  interstices  between  the  logs.  By  one 
of  these  shots  Mr.  Williams,  the  father,  was  se- 
verely wounded  in  his  bed  ;  but  the  sergeant  kept 
up  as  brisk  a  fire  as  his  little  brother,  who  acted 
his  part  manfully,  could  enable  him  to  do,  and  a 
second  and  a  third  of  the  savages   fell.  '  They 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  273 

again  retreated,  taking  away  their  slain,  and  rais- 
ing their  customary  death  howls.  Maddened  by 
their  loss,  however,  they  again  approached,  one 
of  them  bearing  a  flaming  brand,  with  which  they 
were  resolved  to  fire  the  house.  But  with  delib- 
erate aim  the  sergeant  brought  the  incendiary  to 
the  ground,  whereupon  the  Indians  seized  his  body 
and  drew  off,  without  again  returning  to  the  as- 
sault. How  many  more  than  the  four  enumera- 
ted were  slain  by  the  brave  sergeant  was  not 
known,  because  the  Indians  always  carry  off  their 
dead.  Beyond  doubt,  the  lives  of  the  whole  fami- 
ly were  saved  by  his  intrepidity,  and  that  of  his 
heroic  little  brother.  The  sergeant  is  yet  living 
in  the  valley,  an  opulent  and  respectable  farmer. 

Another  family  upon  whom  the  blow  fell  with 
great  force  and  severity,  was  that  of  Mr.  Jona- 
than Weeks.  He  resided  upon  a  large  farm,  with 
his  sons  and  sons-in-law,  about  a  mile  below  the 
borough  of  Wilkesbarre.  He  had  living  with 
him,  at  the  time  of  the  alarm,  his  three  sons,  Phil- 
ip, Jonathan,  and  Bartholomew ;  Silas  Bene- 
dict, a  son-in-law ;  Jabel  Beers,  an  uncle  ;  Josiah 
Carman,  a  cousin ;  and  a  boarder,  named  Robert 
Bates.  These  seven  men  from  a  single  house- 
hold all  seized  their  arms  and  hurried  to  the  field. 
And  they  all  fell  with  their  Captain,  whose  name 
was  M'Carrican,  a  man  of  letters  and  teacher  of 
the  hamlet  school.     Two  days  after  the  battle,  a 


274  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

party  of  twenty  Indians  visited  the  house  of  Mr. 
Weeks,  and  demanded  breakfast.  Having  obtain- 
ed their  demand,  they  next  informed  Mr.  Weeks 
that  he  must  quit  the  valley  forthwith.  The  old 
man  remonstrated.  "  All  my  sons  have  fallen," 
said  he  with  emotion  ;  "  and  here  am  I  left  with 
fourteen  grand-children,  all  young  and  helpless." 
But  the  dusky  conquerors  were  inexorable  :  nev- 
ertheless, having  gorged  themselves  with  blood  al- 
ready, and  having  moreover  satisfied  their  appe- 
tites for  the  morning,  they  did  not  wantonly  apply 
the  tomahawk  again.  The  leader  of  this  party  was 
an  Indian  named  Anthony  Turkey, — a  fellow  who 
had  been  well  known  to  the  settlers  as  one  of  the 
former  residents  of  the  valley,  when  both  races 
lived  together  in  friendship.  The  appearance  of 
Turkey  among  the  invaders  was  a  source  of 
surprise,  because  of  his  former  friendship.  But  he 
proved  as  thoroughly  savage  as  the  wildest  of  his 
race  ;  and  notwithstanding  his  former  acquaint- 
ance with  Mr.  Weeks,  he  would  not  allow  the 
bereft  old  man  to  remain  upon  his  farm.  Still, 
in  driving  him  away,  the  Indians  so  far  temper- 
ed their  decree  with  mercy  as  to  allow  him  his 
oxen  and  wagon,  with  which  he  took  the  sob- 
bing women  and  their  little  ones  back  to  the 
county  of  Orange,  (New-York,)  whence  they 
had  emigrated  to  Wyoming.  But  the  Indian 
leader,  Turkey,   afterward  met   the  fate    he  de- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  275 

served,  in  this  place*  Returning  with  the  par- 
ty of  toriea!  and  Indians  who  invaded  the  valley 
a  second  time  in  March,  1779,  as  just  related  in 
the  case  of  the  Williams  family,  he  was  shot 
through  the  thigh  in  the  engagement  which  took 
place  on  the  flats,  and  before  his  people  could 
carry  him  away  he  was  surrounded  by  the  Wy- 
oming boys  who  called  out  to  him  —  *'  Surren- 
der, Turkey,  —  we  won't  hurt  you."  But  he 
refused,  and  resisted  like  a  chafed  tiger,  until  it 
became  necessary  to  make  an  end  of  him.  After 
the  enemy  were  gone,  the  lads  took  the  body  of 
Turkey,  and  set  it  up-right  in  a  canoe,  all  painted 
to  their  hands,  and  grinning  horribly  with  the  mus- 
cular contortions  of  death.  They  then  placed  a 
bow  and  arrows  in  his  hand,  and  sent  him  adrift, 
amidst  the  cheers  of  men  and  boys.  The  canoe, 
thus  freighted,  created  some  sensation  as  it  passed 
below,  and  was  the  cause  of  several  amusing  in- 
cidents. In  one  case  a  man  put  off  in  a  canoe  to 
take  the  straggler  ;  but  catching  a  glimpse  of  the 
ferocious  countenance  of  the  Indian,  and  fancy- 
ing that  he  was  drawing  his  bow  to  let  fly  a  pois- 
oned arrow,  he  paddled  back  to  the  shore  with  all 
convenient  expedition. 

Yet  another  case  will  be  briefly  related.  It  is 
that  of  a  Mr.  Skinner,  whose  baptismal  name  has 
not  been  preserved.  Mrs.  Esther  Skinner  died  in 
Torringford,  Connecticut,  in  the  year  1831,  aged 


276  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

one  hundred  years.  She  had  been  one  of  the 
earhest  white  residents  of  Wyoming.  In  the  mas- 
sacre she  lost  her  husband,  two  sons,  and  a  bro- 
ther, all  of  whom  fell  beneath  the  tomahawk, — 
she  herself  escaping,  with  six  of  her  children,  as 
it  were  by  a  miracle.  Her  son-in-law  was  almost 
the  only  man  of  twenty  who  threw  themselves  into 
the  river,  and  attempted  to  hide  themselves  beneath 
the  foliage  depending  from  the  banks  into  the  wa- 
ter, that  escaped.  All  the  others  were  successive- 
ly massacred  while  sustaining  themselves  in  the 
water  by  the  branches  of  the  trees  that  dipped  into 
it.  He  alone  was  undiscovered.  The  lone  mother 
travelled  back  to  Torringford,  where  she  led  a 
useful  life  to  its  close.  She  was  sometimes  cheer- 
ful, though  a  cloud  of  heaviness,  brought  on  by 
her  sorrows,  was  never  entirely  dissipated. 

Among  the  names  most  intimately  connected 
with  the  history  of  Wyoming  during  the  period 
under  review,  is  that  of  Moses  Van  Campen.  Ma- 
jor Van  Campen,  —  for  such  was  his  legitimate 
title  in  the  service  before  the  close  of  the  contest, 
—  first  served  as  a  private  in  the  year  1777,  upon 
Grand  Island,  situated  in  the  west  branch  of  the 
Susquehanna.  In  the  following  year  he  was  com- 
missioned a  lieutenant,  and  stationed  in  the  valley 
of  the  Susquehanna,  between  Northumberland 
and  Wyoming,  where  he  erected  a  small  fort  for 
the  protection  of  the  scattered  settlers  of  the  neigh- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  277 

borhood,  the  inhabitants  of  which  in  seasons  of 
alarm  took  refuge  within  its  walls.  Before  his  little 
defence  had  been  completed,  it  was  gallantly  and 
successfully  defended  against  two  successive  at- 
tacks by  strong  bodies  of  Indians,  whose  toma- 
hawks were  nevertheless  bathed  in  the  blood  of 
several  families  upon  that  section  of  the  border. 

When,  in  the  year  1779,  General  Sullivan  as- 
cended the  Susquehanna  and  Chemung  rivers  in 
his  march  into  the  Indian  country  to  avenge  the 
butcheries  of  Wyoming  and  Cherry  Valley,  lieu- 
tenant Van  Campen  was  advanced  to  the  post  of 
quarter-master ;  but  being  a  man  of  approved 
courage  and  activity,  well  skilled  in  the  subtleties 
of  Indian  warfare,  his  duties  were  by  no  means 
confined  to  the  commissariat.  Previous  to  the 
battle  of  Newtown,  in  which  the  Indians  under 
Brant,  and  the  American  loyalists  of  Sir  John  John- 
son and  Colonel  John  Butler  were  signally  defeated 
by  the  united  forces  of  SulHvan  and  Chnton,  Ma- 
jor Van  Campen  was  sent  forward,  under  the 
disguise  of  an  Indian  warrior,  —  dressed,  painted, 
and  plumed,  —  to  ascertain  the  numbers  and  con- 
dition of  the  enemy,  —  a  task  which  he  executed 
with  complete  success.  Passing  their  out-posts  in 
the  night,  he  entered  their  camp,  visited  their  fires, 
and  computed, with  sufficient  accuracy,  the  number 
of  the  warriors  slumbering  around  them.  In  the 
attack  upon  a  division  of  the  enemy,  preceding  the 
26 


278  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

main  battle,  by  the  brigade  of  General  Hand,  Ma- 
jor Van  Campen  was  in  the  advance,  contributing 
actively  to  the  success  of  that  brilliant  affair.* 

At  the  close  of  Sullivan's  campaign,  a  severe  at- 
tack of  bilious  fever  compelled  Major  Van  Campen 
to  retire  from  the  service,  and  return  to  the  resi- 
dence of  his  father,  in  the  vicinity  of  his  former 
station  below  Wyoming,  upon  the  Susquehanna. 
The  savages  had  been  so  effectually  subdued  by 
the  operations  of  Sullivan,  that  apprehensions  of 
farther  outrages  upon  the  border  were  measurably 
allayed,  and  the  scattered  inhabitants  were  prepar- 
ing to  resume  their  field  labors  in  the  spring  of 
the  following  year  with  comparative  unconcern. 
Toward  the  close  of  March,  Major  Van  Campen 
left  the  fort  with  his  father  and  a  brother,  to  work 
upon  the  farm,  accompanied  also  by  an  uncle  and 
his  son,  a  lad  of  twelve  years  of  age,  and  a  man 
named  Peter  Pence — the  uncle  having  a  farm  to 
attend  in  the  same  vicinity. 

Suddenly,  on  the  30th  of  March,  while  in  the 
field,  the  Major  and  his  father  were  attacked  by  a 
party  of  ten  Indians,  who  stole  so  warily  upon 
them  that  flight  was  impossible.  The  uncle  had 
already  been  killed  upon  his  own  plantation  ;  the 
lad  and  Pence  being  now  in  company,  bound  pris- 


*  For  the  fullest  nnd  best  historical  narrative  of  Bullivan^s  memorable 
expedition  into  the  Indian  country,  see  the  author's  Life  of  Joseph  Brant— 
Thayendanegea,  Vol.  11. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.       '  fi79 

oners.  The  Major's  father  was  thrust  through  the 
lungs  with  a  spear  in  the  first  onset,  and  his  throat 
instantly  cut.  The  lad,  his  brother,  was  Hkewise 
struck  down  with  a  tomahawk,  scalped,  and  his 
body  cast  into  a  fire  blazing  near  by.  As  the 
warrior  who  had  slain  the  elder  Van  Campen  drew 
the  spear  from  his  body,  he  made  a  lunge  at  the 
Major,  already  engaged  apparently  in  a  death 
struggle  with  another  Indian  ;  but  not  poising  his 
weapon  with  skill,  a  slight  flesh  wound  only  was 
inflicted,  while  the  barb  became  entangled  in  the 
clothes  of  the  intended  victim.  Sated,  for  the 
time,  with  blood,  after  a  brief  struggle  the  sava- 
ges contented  themselves  with  making  the  Major 
a  prisoner,  and  wnth  his  youthful  cousin,  and  the 
man  Pence,  he  was  marched  away  in  the  direction 
of  the  Six  Nations'  country.  In  descending  the 
valley  of  the  Susquehanna  the  Indians  had  skirted 
the  Wyoming  settlements  and  committed  some 
aggressions.  In  returning,  on  the  same  after- 
noon, they  fell  in  with  a  party  of  four  men  engaged 
in  making  maple-sugar,  upon  whom  they  fired — 
wounding  one  man,  Captain  Ransom,  who,  how- 
ever, escaped  with  the  others.  Encamping  at 
night,  after  building  their  fires  the  prisoners  were 
bound  and  well  secured,  the  Indians  sleeping  five 
upon  either  side  of  them.  On  the  second  day  of 
their  march,  while  yet  in  the  Wyoming  region,  they 
found  one  Abraham  Pike,  with  his  wife  and  child. 


280  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

Placing  the  mark  of  prisoners  upon  the  latter  two, 
they  were  suffered  to  "go"  ;  but  Pike  was  taken 
away,  and  at  night  they  were  all  bound  and  guard- 
ed as  before.  Reflecting  that  they  had  probably 
been  spared  by  their  captors  to  grace  a  war- 
feast  on  returning  to  their  villages,  in  the  course 
of  which  they  would  be  put  to  death  by  torture, 
Van  Campen  began  now  to  meditate  an  escape — 
a  feat,  he  was  well  aware,  only  to  be  achieved  by 
putting  the  Indians  to  death.  The  daring  sugges- 
tion was  cautiously  imparted  to  his  fellow  prison- 
ers on  the  third  day  of  their  captivity  ;  but  it  was 
not  until  the  fourth  that  a  reluctant  assent  was  ob- 
tained from  his  associates.  Pence  and  Pike — the 
lad  being  too  young  for  a  combatant.  The  sleep 
of  the  Indians,  it  is  well  known,  is  very  deep  and 
heavy  ;  and  Van  Campen's  proposal  was  that  on  the 
next  night,  after  waiting  until  their  grim  guardians 
were  in  a  profound  slumber,  they  should  contrive 
to  extricate  themselves  in  some  way  from  the 
cords  with  which  they  were  bound,  and  in  the 
next  place  cautiously  disarm  the  Indians.  This 
effected,  Van  Campen  intended  that  himself, 
Pence,  and  Pike,  armed  with  tomahawks,  should 
each,  by  as  many  blows,  dispatch  three  of  the 
sleepers  before  any  of  them  should  have  time  to 
to  arouse  for  resistance.  Nine  of  them  being  thus 
disposed  of  and  the  tenth  unarmed,  the  three 
could  have  nothing  serious  to  apprehend  from  him. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  291 

But  although  the  project  was  obviously  well 
conceived,  neither  Pence  nor  Pike  would  agree  to 
the  details  beyond  the  disarming.  That  object 
attained,  they  proposed  that  one  of  their  number 
should  be  stationed  with  the  fire-arms  of  the  Indians, 
to  be  removed  a  few  paces  from  the  camp,  which 
should  be  used  with  the  best  possible  effect,  while 
the  other  two  were  to  attack  with  tomahawks,  and 
ply  them  as  briskly  and  fatally  as  possible  during 
the  confusion  which  would  ensue  on  the  first  dis- 
charge of  a  musket.  In  this  hazardous  deviation 
from  his  plan  Van  Campen  was  obliged  to  acqui- 
esce ;  and  the  duty  of  firing  the  muskets,  from  a 
point  of  comparative  safety,  was  assigned  to  Pence. 

Encamping  as  usual  at  dark,  the  Indians  were 
remarkably  diligent  and  attentive  in  providing  an 
abundance  of  fuel  for  the  night ;  and  a  roaring  fire 
having  been  built,  they  all  lay  down  to  sleep — the 
prisoners  being  carefully  bound  as  before.  Prov- 
idence, however,  favored  the  design  of  escape,  for 
one  of  the  Indians,  while  adjusting  himself  for  the 
night,  dropped  his  knife,  without  perceiving  it,  close 
by  Van  Campen's  feet.  Of  course  the  latter  failed 
not  to  avail  himself  of  this  important  weapon  ;  and 
at  midnight,  perceiving  that  the  warriors  were  all 
in  a  profound  slumber,  the  Major  arose,  and  with 
the  knife  quietly  severed  the  cords  upon  his  own 
limbs  and  those  of  his  fellow  prisoners.  He  was 
himself  to  strike  the  three  Indians  upon  the  right 
26* 


2S2 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 


wing,  and  Pike  the  two  upon  the  left,  while  Pence 
should  do  such  execution  as  he  could  with  the  guns. 
Just  as  they  were  about  to  strike,  the  two  warriors 
allotted  to  Pike  awoke  ;  whereupon,  like  a  coward, 
as  he  proved  to  be,  he  again  lay  down  in  his  place, 
as  though  all  was  well.  Not  so  Van  Campen,  who 
saw  that  in  an  instant  more  all  would  be  lost. 
Quick  as  lightning,  therefore,  he  darted  upon  the 
two  awaking  savages,  and  planting  his  tomahawk 
deep  into  their  heads,  left  them  quivering  in  death. 
Three  more  blows,  equally  well  directed,  with  the 
rapidity  of  thought,  ended  the  hves  of  the  three  as 
allotted  to  him  at  the  first.  Pence  fired  at  the  same 
instant,  with  wonderful  judgment  and  accuracy 
—  killing  four  of  the  remaining  five.  One  only 
was  left  —  a  stalwart  savage  named  Mohawk,  who 
sprang  to  his  feet  with  the  discharge  of  the  guns, 
and  uttering  the  war-whoop,  darted  to  take  posses- 
sion of  them.  Van  Campen  sprang  after  him 
to  defeat  his  purpose,  aiming  a  blow  at  his  head 
with  a  tomahawk,  but  missing,  struck  him  in  the 
shoulder,  or  rather  in  the  back  of  his  neck.  The 
Indian  pitched  forward  and  fell  —  and  Van  Cam- 
pen's  foot  slipping  at  the  same  instant,  he  also  fell 
by  his  side.  They  clenched,  and  a  struggle  of 
several  moments  ensued,  during  which  the  Major 
endeavored  to  dispatch  him  with  his  own  knife. 
Mohawk,  however,  succeeded  in  disengaging  him- 
self, and  springing  to  his  feet,  plunged  into  the 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

woods  and  fled.  The  transaction  was  one  of  sur- 
prizing bravery,  —  of  darkness  and  of  blood.  Yet 
it  was  not  unrelieved  by  an  incident,  or  rather  side- 
act,  of  a  ludicrous  character ;  for  while  Van  Campen 
and  Mohawk  lay  struggling,  grasped  in  each  other's 
arms  upon  the  ground  as  in  the  hug  of  death.  Pike 
was  attempting  to  pray,  and  Pence  stood  swearing 
at  him  for  his  cowardice. 

The  victory,  however,  was  complete.  Nine  of 
the  ten  warriors  lay  before  them  dead  ;  and  it 
only  remained  for  the  victors  to  secure  the  spoils, 
and  wend  their  way  back  to  Wyoming  before  Mo- 
hawk should  be  able  to  return  upon  them  with  re- 
inforcements. Having  secured  the  arms,  blankets, 
and  supplies  of  the  dead,  taken  their  scalps,  and 
recovered  also  those  of  his  father,  his  uncle,  and 
his  brother.  Van  Campen  caused  a  rude  raft  to  be 
constructed — for  the  brave  action  T  have  recorded 
occurred  upon  the  bank  of  the  Susquehanna  not 
far  from  Tioga, — upon  which  he  embarked  with 
his  little  party,  and  in  due  season  they  all  reached 
their  homes  in  safety.  On  their  passage,  howev- 
er, they  had  several  alarms.  Pike,  in  every  instance, 
sustaining  his  character  as  an  arrant  coward.* 

*  And  yet  this  man,  Pike,  who  deceased  only  a  few  years  ago,  lived 
and  died,  in  the  popular  estimation,  a  hero,  or  rather  the  hero  of  the  trans- 
action recorded  in  the  text.  I  have  now  before  me  a  manuscript  narra- 
tive, written  from  the  personal  relation  of  Pike,  in  1819,  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Peck,  then  of  Wyoming,  but  now  of  New- York,  in  which  he  makes 
himself  the  planner  and  the  hero,  of  the  whole  affair.  But  such  was  not 
the  fact.    The  account  given  in  the  text  I  have  written  with  the  narrative 


284  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

The  Indian,  Mohawk,  recovered  from  his  wound, 
and  in  process  of  time,  by  the  removal  of  Van 
Campen  into  the  neighborhood  of  his  village,  they 
became  acquainted.  The  effect  of  the  wound 
was  such  as  to  contract,  or  perhaps  to  destroy, 
some  of  the  muscles  of  Mohawk's  neck,  by  rea- 
son of  which  he  could  never  carry  his  head  erect 
afterward.  He  was  for  a  time  shy  of  seeing  Ma- 
jor Van  Campen  ;  but  finding  that  the  latter  cher- 
ished no  hostility  toward  him,  he  subsequently  be- 
came his  frequent  visiter. 

Among  the  residents  of  Wyoming  who  long  sur- 
vived the  scenes  that  have  been  faintly  sketched, 
was  Mrs.  Phebe  Young,  a  lady  eminent  for  her 
piety  and  worth,  who  died  in  August,  1839,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  ninety  years.  She  retained  her 
faculties  of  mind  and  memory  until  her  decease, 
and  as  her  temperament  was  cheerful,  and  her  col- 
loquial powers  pleasing,  her  society  was  courted 
until  she  was  summoned  to  depart  from  the  bright 
spot  which  for  so  long  a  period  in  her  youth  she 
had  known  literally  as  a  vale  of  tears.  Mrs. 
Young  was  a  native  of  the  ancient  Dutch  town  of 

of  Major  Van  Caitipen  before  me.  He  yet  (1844)  lives  in  the  western  sec- 
tion of  New  York,  a  citizen,  venerable  for  his  years,  and  of  great  respec- 
tability. His  veracity  is  not  to  be  questioned  ;  while  the  character  of 
Pike,  through  life,  was  not  only  quci^tionnblo,  but  sometimes  bad.  He 
was  shrewd,  but  faithless.  It  is  said  of  him  that  he  often  committed  petty 
larcenies  ;  but  when  called  to  an  acconnt  for  them  pleaded  his  soldier- 
ship, his  8ufi*ering8,  and  his  exploits,  and  the  inhabitants  wore  induced 
by  his  appeals  to  shut  their  eyes  to  his  offences. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  285 

iEsopus,  in  the  state  of  New- York,  whence  she 
emigrated  to  Wyoming  at  the  age  of  twenty,  in 
the  year  1769.  There  were  in  Wyoming,  at  that 
period,  only  five  white  females,  including  herself. 
The  Indians  were  then  in  the  quiet  possession  of 
the  circumjacent  country,  excepting  the  sections 
that  had  been  entered  upon  by  the  whites  ;  and 
the  relations  of  Mrs.  Young  and  her  friends  with 
them,  were  of  the  most  friendly  character.  Hav- 
ing taken  up  her  residence  there  thus  early,  Mrs. 
Young  was  of  course  a  participator  in  all  the  hard- 
ships and  deprivations  incident  to  the  commence- 
ment of  a  settlement  in  the  woods  at  a  distance 
so  remote  from  the  abodes  of  civilization.  She 
was  also  a  spectator  of,  and  consequently  a  suffer- 
er in,  the  bitter  civil  feuds  which  for  so  many  years 
distracted  the  valley.  On  the  day  of  the  battle 
and  massacre,  while  the  men  were  preparing  them- 
selves for  the  contest,  and  making  such  hasty  dis- 
positions as  they  could  for  the  security  of  their 
families,  she,  and  her  children,  were  furnished  by 
her  husband  with  a  canoe,  and  advised  to  hasten 
from  the  valley  down  the  Susquehanna  at  once  ; 
but  she  was  unwilling  to  depart  until  she  could 
learn  the  result  of  the  impending  contest.  She 
therefore  took  refuge,  with  her  children,  in  a  small 
house  near  the  river,  at  the  distance  of  several 
miles  below  the  battle  ground.  A  portion  of  the 
family  of  Colonel  Dennison  were  with  her.     As 


$96  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

the  evening  of  the  fatal  day  approached,  she  lull- 
ed her  children  to  sleep,  and  with  her  friends 
watched,  with  a  solicitude  that  cannot  be  descri- 
bed, until  midnight.  Then  was  heard  the  approach- 
ing tramp  of  horses  at  full  speed.  They  hastened 
to  the  door  to  receive  them,  and  the  tidings  were, 
"  all  is  lost,  and  the  Indians  are  sweeping  down 
the  valley  !"  Gathering  her  children  from  the  floor 
upon  which  they  were  dreaming  in  happy  uncon- 
sciousness of  what  had  passed,  she  placed  them 
in  a  canoe,  and  launched  forth  upon  the  river,  to 
be  wafted  by  its  current  whither  it  might.  The 
moon  shone  sweetly  upon  the  water,  and  in  pass- 
ing her  own  house,  all  was  quiet,  and  the  cow 
stood  ruminating  by  the  door.  She  kept  in  her 
canoe,  borne  rapidly  along  by  the  stream,  until  she 
arrived  in  Lancaster  county,  where  resided  the 
friends  of  her  husband,  among  whom  she  remain- 
ed until  after  the  campaign  of  General  Sullivan 
against  the  Indian  country  in  1779.  Her  return 
was  to  a  valley  of  desolation — every  person  she 
met  was  a  mourner — the  relics  of  "  a  people  scat- 
tered and  peeled."  Mrs.  Young  never  afterward 
left  Wyoming :  nor  for  many  years  previous  to 
her  decease  had  she  moved  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  borough  of  Wilkesbarre,  except  on  the  in- 
teresting occasion,  three  or  four  years  ago,  when 
the  common  grave  of  those  who  fell  in  the  massa- 
cre was  opened  ''  for  the  purpose  of  founding  a 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  287 

monument  to  their  memory.     All  the  survivors  of 
the  times  of  Indian  troubles  were  assembled,  and 
Mrs.  Young  was  sent  for  as  one  of  them.     The 
spectators  of  what   took  place  on  that    occasion 
can  never  forget  it.     The  bones  of  slaughtered 
brothers  and  fathers,  marked  with  the  tomahawk 
and  the  scalping-knife  and  the  rifle,  were  opened 
to  view  ;  and  as  the  vast  assembly  marched  around 
the  grave,  the  old,  who  had  shared  in  the  sorrows 
of  the  first  settlers  of  the  valley,   wept  at  the  re- 
collection of  what  they  had  known,  and  the  young 
wept  in  sympathy  because  they  had  heard   from 
their  fathers'  hps  the  unhappy  story   of  their  na- 
tive valley.     Mrs.  Young  could  share  largely  in 
the   feelings   of  that  occasion,  for  many   of  those 
whose  bones  were  there  collected  she  had  person- 
ally known  as  neighbors  ;  but  she  did  not  seek  to 
be  present.     It  was  only   the  urgent  solicitations 
of  a  respected  neighbor,   who  was  himself  a  sur- 
vivor of  the  '  Indian  troubles,'  and  the  remnant  of 
a  family  cut  off  in   the  massacre,  that  prevailed 
and  induced  her  to  go.     She  never  left  the  town 
again."*     For  sixty  years  Mrs.  Young  never  look- 
ed upon  the   world  beyond  the  narrow  barriers  of 
Wyoming. 

*  Tribute  to  the  memory  of  Mrs.  Young,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  M&y,  her  pas- 
tor, published  in  the  London  Episcopal  Recorder. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Slocum  family,— Two  of  them  in  the  battle  of  Wyoming,— Perilous 
Escape  of  Giles  Slocum,— Murder  of  the  elder  Slocum  and  his  father-in- 
law,— Story  of  the  Lost  Sister,— Her  captivity,— Long-continued  efforts 
for  her  discovery, — Disappointments,— Found  sixty  years  afterward  by 
Colonel  Ewing, — Correspondence, — Visit  of  the  surviving  brothers  and 
sister  to  the  Miami  country,— The  recognition,- Narrative  of  thelost 
one,— Refuses  to  return  with  herrelations,-^The  visit  repeated. 

The  Slocum  family  of  Wyoming  were  distin- 
guished for  their  sufferings  during  the  war  of  the 
revolution,  and  have  been  recently  brought  more 
conspicuously  before  the  public  in  connection 
with  the  life  of  a  long  lost  but  recently  discovered 
sister.  The  story  of  the  family  opens  with  trage- 
dy, and  ends  in  romance  without  fiction. 

Mr.  Jonathan  Slocum,  the  father  of  the  subject 
of  the  present  narrative,  was  a  non-combatant, — 
being  a  member  of  the  society  of  Friends.  Not 
so,  however,  all  the  members  of  his  family.  His 
eldest  son,  Giles,  was  in  the  battle,  as  also  was  his 
brother-in-law,  named  Hugh  Forsman.  The  ju- 
nior escaped  to  Monockonock  island,  and  though 
hotly  pursued,  succeeded  in  burying  himself  in  the 
sand  and  bushes  so  as  to  elude  discovery  until 
the  following  day,  when  he  made  good  his  retreat 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  289 

to  Fort  Forty.  While  lying  thus  in  concealment, 
his  pursuers  fell  upon  another  fugitive  whom  they 
slew,  notwithstanding  his  entreaties  for  mercy. 
Forsman  was  a  subaltern  in  Captain  Hewetfs 
company,  and  was  one  of  the  fifteen  of  that  corps 
who  escaped  the  slaughter,  and  the  only  man  of 
them  who  brought  in  his  gun.*  Yet  the  father, 
feeling  himself  safe  in  his  pacific  principles  from 
the  hostility  even  of  the  savages,  did  not  join 
the  survivors  of  the  massacre  in  their  flight,  but 
remained  quietly  upon  his  farm, — his  house  standi 
ing  in  close  proximity  to  the  village  of  Wilkes- 
barre.  But  his  faith  had  little  weight  with  the 
Indians,  notwithstanding  the  affection  with  which 
their  race  had  been  treated  by  the  founder  of 
Quakerism  in  Pennsylvania, — the  illustrious  Penn, 
— and  long  had  the  family  cause  to  mourn  their 
imprudence  in  not  retreating  from  the  doomeci 
valley  with  their  neighbors. 

It  was  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  of  the 
invasion  by  Butler  and  Gi-en-gwah-toh,  at  mid- 
day, when  the  men  were  laboring  in  a  distant 
field,  that  the  house  of  Mr.  Slocum  was  suddenly 
surrounded  by  a  party  of  Delawares,  prowling 
about  the  valley,  in  more  earnest  search,  as  it 
seemed,  of  plunder  than  of  scalps  or  prisoners. — 
The  inmates  of  the  house,  at  the  moment  of  the 

•  Wyoming  Memorial  to  Congresf. 

27 


S90 


HISTORY    or    \VYOMINfl. 


surprise,  were  Mrs.  Slocum  and  four  young  chil- 
dren, the  eldest  of  whom  was  a  son  aged  thirteen, 
the  second  a  daughter,  aged  nine,  the  third,  Fran- 
ces Slocum,  aged  five,  and  a  little  son  aged  two 
years  and  a  half.  Near  by  the  house,  engaged 
in  grinding  a  knife,  was  a  youth  named  Kingsley, 
assisted  in  the  operation  by  a  lad.  The  first  hos- 
tile act  of  the  Indians  was  to  shoot  down  Kings- 
ley,  and  take  his  scalp  with  the  knife  he  had  been 
sharpening.  Kingsley,  the  father  of  the  youth 
thus  murdered,  had  been  previously  taken  prison- 
er by  the  Indians,  and  was  then  in  captivity, — 
Mrs.  K.  and  her  child  having  found  a  temporary 
home  in  the  family  of  the  Quaker.* 

The  girl  nine  years  old  appears  to  have  had 
the  most  presence  of  mind,  for  while  the  mother 
ran  into  the  edge  of  a  copse  of  wood  near  by,  and 
Frances  attempted  to  secrete  herself  behind  a 
stair-case,  the  former  at  the  moment  seized  her 
little  brother,  the  youngest  above  mentioned,  and 
ran  off  in  the  direction  of  the  fort.  True,  she 
could  not  make  rapid  progress,  for  she  clung  to 
the  child,  and  not  even  the  pursuit  of  the  savages 
could  induce  her  to  drop  her  charge.  The  In- 
dians did  not  pursue  her  far,  and  laughed  hearti- 
ly at  the  panic  of  the  little  girl,  while  they  could 
not  but  admire  her  resolution.  Allowing  her  to 
make  her  escape,  they  returned  to  the  house,  and 

*  Wyoming  Memorial  to  Congrew. 


HISTORY    OV    WYOMING.  291 

after  helping  themselves  to  such   articles  as   they 
chose,  prepared  to  depart. 

The  mother  seems  to  have  been  unobserved  by 
them,  although,  with  a  yearning  bosom,  she  had 
so  disposed  of  herself  that  while  she  was  screened 
from  observation  she  could  notice  all  that  occur- 
red. But  judge  of  her  feelings  at  the  moment  when 
they  were  about  to  depart,  as  she  saw  little  Frances 
taken  from  her  hiding  place,  and  preparations 
made  to  carry  her  away  into  captivity,  with  her 
brother,  already  mentioned  as  being  thirteen  years 
old,  (who,  by  the  way,  had  been  restrained  from 
attempted  flight  by  lameness  in  one  of  his  feet,) 
and  also  the  lad  who  a  few  moments  before  was 
assisting  Kingsley  at  the  grindstone.  The  sight 
was  too  much  for  maternal  tenderness  to  endure. 
Rushing  from  her  place  of  concealment,  therefore, 
she  threw  herself  upon  her  knees  at  the  feet  of 
her  captors,  and  with  the  most  earnest  entreaties 
pleaded  for  their  restoration.  But  their  bosoms 
were  made  of  sterner  stuff  than  to  yield  even  to 
the  most  eloquent  and  affectionate  of  a  mother^s 
entreaties,  and  with  characteristic  stoicism  they 
began  to  remove.  As  a  last  resort  the  mother  ap- 
pealed to  their  selfishness,  and  pointing  to  the 
maimed  foot  of  her  crippled  son,  urged  as  a  reason 
why  at  least  they  should  relinquish  him,  the  de- 
lays and  embarrassments  he  would  occasion  them 
in    their  journey.     Being  unable  to   walk,   they 


9^  HISTORY    or    WYOMING. 

would  of  course  be  compelled  to  carry  him  the 
whole  distance,  or  leave  him  by  the  way,  or  take 
his  life.  Although  insensible  to  the  feelings  of 
humanity,  these  considerations  had  the  desired 
effect.  The  lad  was  left  behind,  while  deaf  alike 
to  the  cries  of  the  mother,  and  the  shrieks  of  the 
child,  Frances  was  slung  over  the  shoulder  of  a 
stalwart  Indian  with  as  much  indifference  as 
though  she  were  a  slaughtered  fawn. 

The  long,  lingering  look  which  the  mother  gave 
to  her  child,  as  her  captors  disappeared  in  the  for- 
est, was  the  last  glimpse  of  her  sweet  features  that 
she  ever  had.  But  the  vision  was  for  many  a  long 
year  ever  present  to  her  fancy.  As  the  Indian 
threw  her  child  over  his  shoulder,  her  hair  fell  over 
her  face,  and  the  mother  could  never  forget  how 
the  tears  streamed  down  her  cheeks,  when  she 
brushed  it  away  as  if  to  catch  a  last  sad  look  of  the 
mother,  from  whom,  her  httle  arms  outstretched, 
she  implored  assistance  in  vain.  Nor  was  this  the 
last  visit  of  the  savages  to  the  domicil  of  Mr.  Slo- 
cum.  In  the  month  of  December  following,  no 
Indians  having  been  recently  seen  in  the  neigbor- 
hood,  Jonathan  Slocum,  with  his  son  William,  and 
Mr.  Isaac  Tripp,  an  old  man,  father  of  Mrs.  Slo- 
cum, ventured  forth  to  feed  their  cattle  unattended 
by  a  guard.  But  a  horde  of  savages  who  liJid  sto- 
len down  unobserved  from  the  mountains,  were 
lurking  in  the  neighborhood  of  the    fold,    from 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 


293 


whom,  on  descrying  them,  the  little  party,  with  a 
single  exception,  attempted  in  vain  to  escape. 
Mr.  Tripp,  the  elder  of  the  three,  on  being  first 
overtaken,  fell,  nine  times  pierced  through  the  body 
with  a  spear.  A  musket  ball  brought  the  elder 
Slocum  dead  to  the  ground,  and  both  were  scalped 
and  otherwise  mangled,  while  William,  with  a  leg 
wounded  by  a  spent  ball,  succeeded  in  gaining  the 
fort.*  That  ball  he  carried  in  his  flesh  to  the  grave, 
more  than  half  a  century  afterward. 

These  events  cast  a  shadow  over  the  remaining 
years  of  Mrs.  Slocum.  She  Hved  to  see  many 
bright  and  sunny  days  in  that  beautiful  valley  — 
bright  and  sunny,  alas !  to  her  no  longer.  She 
mourned  for  the  lost  one,  of  whom  no  tidings,  at 
least  during  her  pilgrimage,  could  be  obtained.  — 
After  her  sons  grew  up,  the  youngest  of  whom,  by 
the  way,  was  born  but  a  few  months  subsequent 
to  the  events  already  narrated,  obedient  to  the 
charge  of  their  mother,  the  most  unwearied  efforts 
were  made  to  ascertain  what  had  been  the  fate  of 
the  lost  sister.  The  forests  between  the  Susquehiin- 
na  and  the  great  lakes,  and  even  the  more  distant 
wilds  of  Canada,  were  traversed  by  the  brothers 
in  vain,  nor  could  any  information  respecting  her 
be  derived  from  the  Indians.f     Once,  indeed,  du- 

*  Wyoming  Memorial  to  Congress. 

t  III  the  Narrative  of  Colonel  Thomas  Proctor,  a  Commissioner  deputed 
hy  Gen.  Knox,  then  Secretary  of  War,  npon  a  mission  to  the  Northwestern 
Indians,  iu  1791,  under  date  of  March  28th,  is  this  entry  :  —  «  I  was  joined 

27* 


^mi 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 


ring  an  excursion  of  one  of  the  brothers  into  the 
vast  wilds  of  the  west,  a  white  woman,  long  a 
captive,  came  to  him  in  the  hope  of  finding  a  bro- 
ther ;  but  after  many  anxious  efforts  to  discover 
evidences  of  relationship,  the  failure  was  as  deci- 
sive as  it  was  mutually  sad.  There  was  yet  another 
kindred  occurrence,  still  more  painful.  One  of 
the  many  hapless  female  captives  in  the  Indian 
country,  becoming  acquainted  with  the  inquiries 
prosecuting  by  the  Slocum  family,  presented  herself 
to  Mrs.  Slocum,  trusting  that  in  her  she  might  find 
her  own  long  lost  mother.  Mrs.  Slocum  was 
touched  by  her  appearance,  and  fain  would  have 
claimed  her  if  she  could.  She  led  the  stranger 
about  the  house  and  yards,  to  see  if  there  were 
any  recollections  by  which  she  could  be  identified 
as  her  own  lost  one.  But  there  was  nothing  writ- 
ten upon  the  pages  of  memory  to  warrant  the  desired 
conclusion  ;  and  the  hapless  captive  returned  in  bit- 
ter disappointment  to  her  forest  home.*  In  process 
of  time  these  efforts  were  all  rehnquished  as  hope- 
less. The  lost  one  might  have  fallen  beneath  the 
tomahawk,  or  might  have  proved  too  tender  a 
flower  for  transplantation  into  the  wilderness.  — 

by  Mr.  George  Slocum,  who  followed  us  fVora  Wyoming,  to  place  himself 
under  our  protection  and  assistance,  until  be  should  reach  the  Cornplant- 
er's  settlement,  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Alleghany,  for  the  redeeming  of 
his  sister  from  an  unplcasing  captivity  of  twelve  years,  to  which  end  he 
begged  our  immediate  interposition."— Fide  Indian  State  Papers. 

*  Btorjr  of  the  Lost  Sister,  written  for  children,  from  authentic  materials, 
by  the  Rev.  J,  Todd. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 


295 


Conjecture  was  baffled,  and  the  mother,  with  a  sad 
heart,  sank  into  the  grave,  as  also  did  the  father, 
beheving  with  the  Hebrew  patriarch  that  ''  the 
child  was  not." 

The  years  of  a  generation  passed,  and  the  mem- 
ory of  little  Frances  was  forgotten,  save  by  two 
brothers  and  a  sister,  who,  though  advanced  in 
the  vale  of  life,  could  not  forget  the  family  tradi- 
tion of  the  lost  one.  Indeed  it  had  been  the  dy- 
ing charge  of  their  mother  that  they  must  never 
relinquish  their  exertions  to  discover  Frances.  A 
change  now  comes  over  the  spirit  of  the  story.  It 
happened  that  in  the  course  of  the  year  1835, 
Colonel  Ewing,  a  gentleman  connected  with  the 
Indian  trade,  and  also  with  the  public  service  of 
the  country,  in  traversing  a  remote  section  of  In- 
diana, was  overtaken  by  the  night,  while  at  a 
distance  from  the  abodes  of  civilized  man.  When 
it  became  too  dark  for  him  to  pursue  his  way,  he 
sought  an  Indian  habitation,  and  was  so  fortunate 
as  to  find  shelter  and  a  welcome  in  one  of  the 
better  sort.  The  proprietor  of  the  lodge  was  in- 
deed opulent  for  an  Indian,  —  possessing  horses 
and  skins,  and  other  comforts  in  abundance.  He 
was  struck  in  the  course  of  the  evening  by  the 
appearance  of  the  venerable  mistress  of  the  lodge > 
whose  complexion  was  lighter  than  that  of  her 
family,  and  as  glimpses  were  occasionally  disclosed 
of  her  skin  beneath  her  blanket-robe,  the  Colonel 


296  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

was  impressed  with  the  opinion  that  she  was  a 
white  woman.  Colonel  Ewing  could  converse  in 
the  Miami  language,  to  which  nation  his  host  be- 
longed, and  after  partaking  of  the  best  of  their 
cheer,  he  drew  the  aged  squaw  into  a  conversation, 
which  soon  confirmed  his  suspicions  that  she  was 
only  an  Indian  by  adoption.  Indeed  she  frankly 
confessed  the  fact,  and  proceeded  to  give  her  guest 
a  rapid  sketch  of  her  life,  —  a  narrative  of  absorb- 
ing interest  which  made  a  deep  impression  upon 
his  mind. 

In  the  course  of  her  statement  she  mentioned 
that  her  family  name  was  Slocum,  and  that  she 
had  been  stolen  from  somewhere  in  the  valley  of 
the  Susquehanna.  But  of  circumstances  calcula- 
ted to  throw  more  light  upon  her  early  history,  or 
designating  the  particular  section  of  the  Susque- 
hanna country  whence  she  had  been  torn,  she 
could  remember  no  more.  Still,  for  many  months 
afterward  the  family  at  Wyoming  were  ignorant 
of  the  discovery,  nor  did  Colonel  Ewing  know 
any  thing  of  them.  And  it  was  only  by  reason  6f 
a  peculiarly  providential  circumstance  that  the  ti- 
dings ever  reached  their  ears.  On  Colonel  Ew- 
ing's  return  to  his  own  home,  he  related  the  ad- 
venture to  his  mother,  who,  with  the  just  feelings 
of  a  woman,  urged  him  to  take  some  measure  to 
make  the  discovery  known,  and  at  her  solicitation 
he  was  induced  to  write  the  following  narrative  of 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  297 

the  case,  which  he  addressed  to  the  deputy  post- 
master at  Lancaster,  with  a  request  that  it  might 
be  pubUshed  in  some  Pennsylvania  newspaper : — 

"  Logansport,  Indiana ^  Jan.  20,  1835. 

"  Dear  Sir — In  the  hope  that  some  good  may 
result  from  it,  I  have  taken  this  means  of  giving 
to  your  fellow-citizens,  those  who  are  descendants 
of  the  early  settlers  of  the  Susquehanna,  the  follow- 
ing information  ;  and  if  there  be  any  now  living, 
whose  name  is  Slocum,  to  them,  I  hope  the  fol- 
lowing may  be  communicated,  through  the  public 
prints  of  your  place. 

"  There  is  now  living  near  this  place,  among 
the  Miami  tribe  of  Indians,  an  aged  white  wo- 
man, who  a  few  days  ago  told  me,  whilst  I  lodged 
in  the  camp  with  her  one  night,  that  she  was  taken 
away  from  her  father's  house,  on  or  near  the  Sus- 
quehanna river,  when  she  was  very  young — say 
from  five  to  eight  years  old,  as  she  thinks,  by  the 
Delaware  Indians,  who  were  then  hostile  toward 
the  whites.  She  says  her  father's  name  was  Slo- 
cum, that  he  was  a  Quaker,  rather  small  in  stature, 
and  wore  a  large  brimmed  hat — was  of  sandy  hair 
and  light  complexion,  and  much  freckled — that  he 
lived  about  half  a  mile  from  a  town  where  there 
was  a  fort — that  they  lived  in  a  wooden  house  of 
two  stories  high,  and  had  a  spring  near  the  Iiouse. 
She  says  three  Dela wares  came  to  the  house  in^ 


298  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

the  day  time,  when  all  were  absent  but  herself, 
and  perhaps  two  smaller  children  ;  her  father  and 
brothers  were  absent  making  hay.  The  Indians 
carried  her  off,  and  she  was  adopted  into  a  fami- 
ly of  Delawares,  who  raised  her  and  treated  her 
as  their  own  child.  They  died  about  forty  years 
ago,  somewhere  in  Ohio.  She  was  then  married 
to  a  Miami,  by  whom  she  had  four  children  ;  two 
of  them  are  now  living — they  are  both  daughters 
and  she  lives  with  them.  Her  husband  is  dead — 
she  is  old  and  feeble,  and  thinks  she  will  not  live 
long. 

"  These  considerations  induced  her  to  give  the 
present  history  of  herself,  which  she  never  would 
do  before — fearing  that  her  kindred  would  come 
and  force  her  away.  She  has  lived  long  and  hap- 
pily as  an  Indian — and  but  for  her  color,  would 
not  be  suspected  of  being  any  thing  else  than 
such.  She  is  very  respectable  and  wealthy — sober 
and  honest.  Her  name  is  without  reproach.  She 
says  her  father  had  a  large  family,  say  eight  chil- 
dren in  all — six  older  than  herself ;  one  younger, 
as  well  as  she  can  recollect ;  and  she  doubts  not, 
there  are  yet  living  many  of  their  descendants, 
but  seems  to  think  that  all  of  her  brothers  and  sis- 
ters must  be  dead,  as  she  is  very  old  herself — not 
far  from  the  age  of  eighty.  She  thinks  she  was 
taken  prisoner  before  the  two  last  wars,  which 
must  mean   the   Revolutionary   war,  as  Wayne's 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  5299 

war  and  the  late  war  have  been  since  that  one. 
She  has  entirely  lost  her  mother  tongue,  and  speaks 
only  in  Indian,  which  I  also  understand,  and  she 
gave  me  a  full  history  of  herself. 

"  Her  own  christian  name  she  has  forgotten, 
but  says  her  father's  name  was  Slocum,  and  he 
was  a  Quaker.  She  also  recollects  that  it  was 
upon  the  Susquehanna  river  that  they  lived — but 
don't  recollect  the  name  of  the  town  near  which 
they  lived.  I  have  thought  that  from  this  letter 
you  might  cause  something  to  be  inserted  in  the 
newspapers  of  your  county,  that  might  possibly 
catch  the  eye  of  some  of  the  descendants  of  the 
Slocum  family,  who  have  knowledge  of  a  girl 
having  been  carried  off  by  the  Indians  some  sev- 
enty years  ago.  This  they  might  know  from  fami- 
ly tradition.  If  so,  and  they  will  come  here,  I 
will  carry  them  where  they  may  see  the  object  of 
my  letter,  alive  and  happy,  though  old  and  far  ad- 
vanced in  hfe. 

"  I  can  form  no  idea  whereabout  upon  the  Sus- 
quehanna river  this  family  could  have  lived  at 
that  early  period,  namely  about  the  time  of  the 
Revolutionary  war — but  perhaps  you  can  ascer- 
tain more  about  it.  If  so,  I  hope  you  will  inter- 
est yourself,  and  if  possible,  let  her  brothers  and 
sisters,  if  any  be  alive,  if  not,  their  children,  know 
where  they  may  once  more  see  a  relative,  whoso 
fate   has  been  wrapped  in  mystery  for   seventy 


300  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

years,  and  for  whom  her  bereaved  and  afflicted 
parents  doubtless  shed  many  a  bitter  tear.  They 
have  long  since  found  their  graves,  though  their 
lost  child  they  never  found.  I  have  been  much 
affected  with  the  disclosure,  and  hope  the  survi- 
ving friends  may  obtain,  through  your  goodness,  the 
information  I  desire  for  them.  If  I  can  be  of  any 
service  to  them,  they  may  command  me.  In  the 
mean  time,  I  hope  you  will  excuse  me  for  the  free- 
dom I  have  taken  with  you — a  total  stranger,  and 
believe  me  to  be,  Sir,  with  much  respect, 
'•  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  Geo.  W.  Ewing." 
The  functionary  to  whom  the  narrative  was  ad- 
dressed, however,  having  no  knowledge  of  the 
writer,  and  supposing  that  it  might  be  a  hoax, 
paid  no  attention  to  it,  and  the  letter  was  suffered 
to  remain  among  the  worthless  accumulations  of 
the  office  for  the  space  of  two  years.  It  chanced 
then,  that  the  post-master's  wife,  in  rummaging 
over  the  old  papers  while  putting  the  office  in 
order  one  day,  glanced  her  eyes  upon  this  commu- 
nication. The  story  excited  her  interest,  as  well 
it  might,  and  with  true  maternal  feeling,  and  the 
active  spirit  of  woman,  she  resolved  to  give  the 
document  publicity,  and  sent  it  to  a  neighboring 
journalist  for  that  purpose.  And  here,  again,  ano- 
ther providential  circumstance  intervened.  It 
happened  that  a  Temperance  Committee  had  en- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  301 

gaged  a  portion  of  the  columns  of  the  paper  to 
which  the  letter  of  Colonel  Ewing  was  sent,  for  the 
publication  of  an  important  document  connected 
wdth  that  cause,  and  a  large  extra  number  of  pa- 
pers had  been  ordered  for  general  distribution. 
The  letter  was  sent  forth  with  the  temperance  doc- 
ument, and  it  yet  again  happened  that  a  copy  of 
this  paper  w^as  addressed  to  a  clergyman  w^ho  had 
a  brother  residing  in  Wyoming.  Having,  from  that 
brother,  heard  the  story  of  the  captivity  of  Frances 
Slocum,  he  had  no  sooner  read  the  letter  of  Colo- 
nel Ewing,  than  he  enclosed  it  to  him,  and  by 
him  it  w^as  placed  in  the  hands  of  Joseph  Slocum, 
Esq.,  the  surviving  brother. 

Any  attempt  to  describe  tfie  sensations  produc- 
ed by  this  most  welcome,  most  strange,  and  most 
unexpected  intelligence,  would  necessarily  be  a 
failure.  This  Mr.  Joseph  Slocum  was  the  child, 
two  years  and  a  half  old,  that  had  been  rescued 
by  his  intrepid  sister,  nine  years  old.  That  sister 
also  survived,  as  did  the  younger  brother,  living 
in  Ohio.  Arrangements  were  immediately  made 
by  the  former  two^  to  meet  the  latter  in  Ohio,  and 
proceed  thence  to  the  Miami  country,  and  reclaim 
the  long  lost  and  now  found  sister.  ^'  I  shall  know 
her  if  she  be  my  sister,"  said  the  elder  sister  now 
going  in  pursuit,  "  although  she  may  be  painted 
and  jewelled  off,  and  dressed  in  her  Indian  blank- 
et, for  you,  brother,  hammered  off  her  finger  nail 
28 


302  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

one  day  in  the  blacksmith's  shop,  when  she  was 
four  years  old."  While  these  arrangements  were 
afoot,  however,  it  was  judged  wise  to  open  a  di- 
rect correspondence  with  Colonel  Ewing,  in  order 
to  a  more  intelligent  undertaking  of  the  journey. 
To  this  end  the  following  letter  was  addressed  to 
that  gentleman,  by  Jonathan  J.  Slocum,  Esq.,  of 
the  Wilkesbarre  bar,  a  son  of  Joseph,  and  neph- 
ew of  "  the  lost  sister." 

"  Wilkes  Barre,  Penn.y  Aug.  8,  1837. 
"  George  W.  Ewing,  Esq. 

*'  Dear  Sir, — At  the  suggestion  of  my  father 
and  other  relations  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to 
write  to  you,  although  an  entire  stranger. 

*'  We  have  received  but  a  few  days  since,  a  let- 
ter written  by  you  to  a  gentleman  in  Lancaster 
of  this  state,  upon  a  subject  of  deep  and  intense 
interest  to  our  family.  How  the  matter  should 
have  lain  so  long  wrapped  in  obscurity  we  cannot 
conceive.  An  aunt  of  mine — sister  of  my  father 
— was  taken  away  when  five  years  old  by  the  In- 
dians, and  since  then  we  have  only  had  vague  and 
indistinct  rumors  upon  the  subject.  Your  letter 
we  deem  to  have  entirely  revealed  the  whole  mat- 
ter, and  set  every  thing  at  rest.  The  description 
is  so  perfect,  and  the  incidents  (with  the  exception 
of  her  age,)  so  correct  that  we  feel  confident. 

**  Steps  will  be  taken  immediately  to  investigate 


HISTORY     OF     WYOMING  303 

the  matter,  and  we  will  endeavor  to  do  all  in  our 
power  to  restore  a  lost  relative,  who  hos  been 
sixty  years  in  Indian  bondage. 

"  Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

^'JoN.  J.  Slocum.'* 

As  the  reply  of  Colonel  Ewing  forms  a  part  of 
this  remarkable  history,  it  is  here  subjoined  : — 

''  Logansport,  Indiana,  Aug.  26,  1837. 
Jon.  J.  Slocum,  Esq.  Wilkes  Barre. 

''Dear  Sir — I  have  the  pleasure  of  acknowledg- 
ing the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  8th  inst. ,  and 
in  answer,  can  add,  that  the  female  I  spoke  of  in 
Jan.  1835,  is  still  alive  ;  nor  can  I  for  a  moment 
doubt  but  that  she  is  the  identical  relative  that  has 
been  so  long  lost  to  your  family. 

"  I  feel  much  gratified  to  think,  that  I  have 
been  thus  instrumental  in  disclosing  to  yourself 
and  friends,  such  facts  in  relation  to  her  as  will 
enable  you  to  visit  her  and  satisfy  yourselves  more 
fully.  She  recovered  from  the  temporary  illness 
by  which  she  was  afflicted  about  the  time  I  spent 
the  night  with  her  in  Jan.  1835,  and  which  was, 
no  doubt,  the  cause  that  induced  her  to  speak  so 
freely  of  her  early  captivity. 

"  Although  she  is  now,  by  long  habit,  an  Indi- 
an, and  her  manners  and  customs  precisely  like 
theirs,  yet  she  will  doubtless  be  happy  to  see  any 


304  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

of  you ;  and  I  myself  will  take  great  pleasure  in 
accompanying  you  to  the  house.  Should  you 
come  out  for  that  purfK^se,  I  advise  you  to  repair 
directly  to  this  place  ;  and  should  it  so  happen  that 
I  should  be  absent,  at  the  time,  you  will  find  oth- 
ers who  can  take  you  to  her.  Bring  with  you  this 
letter, — show  it  to  James  T.  Miller,  of  Peru,  (Ind.) 
a  small  town  not  far  from  this  place.  He  knows 
her  well.  He  is  a  young  man  whom  we  have 
raised.  He  speaks  the  Miami  tongue  and  will  ac- 
company you,  if  I  should  not  be  at  home.  In- 
quire for  the  old  white  woman,  mother-in-law  to 
Brouriette,  living  on  the  Missisinewaw  River, 
about  ten  miles  above  its  mouth.  There  you  will 
find  the  long  lost  sister  of  your  Father,  and  as  I 
before  stated  you  will  not  have  to  blush  on  her 
account.  She  is  highly  respectable,  and  her  name, 
as  an  Indian,  is  without  reproach.  Her  daughter^ 
too,  and  her  son-in-law,  Brouriette,  who  is  also  a 
half-blood,  being  part  French,  are  both  very  re- 
spectable and  interesting  people — none  in  the  na- 
tion are  more  so.  As  Indians,  they  live  well,  and 
will  be  pleased  to  see  you.  Should  you  visit  here 
this  fall,  I  may  be  absent,  as  I  purpose  starting  for 
New  York  in  a  few  days,  and  shall  not  be  back 
till  some  time  in  October.  But  this  need  not  stop 
you  ;  for  although  I  should  be  gratified  to  see  you, 
yet  it  will  be  sufficient  to  learn  that  I  have  further- 
ed your  wishes  in  this  truly  interesting  matter. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 


305 


"The  very  kind  manner  in  which  you  have 
been  pleased  to  speak  of  me  shalt  be  fully  appre- 
ciated. 

"  There  perhaps  are  men  who  could  have  heard 
her  story  unmoved,  but  for  me,  I  could  not ;  and 
when  I  reflected  that  there  was  perhaps  still  lin- 
gering on  this  side  of  the  grave  some  brother  or 
sister  of  that  ill-fated  woman,  to  whom  such  in- 
formation would  be  deeply  interesting,  I  resolved 
on  the  course  which  I  adopted,  and  entertained 
the  fond  hope  that  my  letter,  if  ever  it  should  go 
before  the  public,  would  attract  the  attention  of 
some  one  interested.  In  this  it  seems  at  last,  I 
have  not  been  disappointed,  although  I  had  long 
since  supposed  it  had  failed  to  effect  the  object  for 
which  I  wrote  it.  Like  you  I  regret  that  it  should 
have  been  delayed  so  long, — -nor  can  I  conceive 
how  any  one  should  neglect  to  publish  such  a  letter. 

"  As  to  the  age  of  this  female,  I  think  she  her- 
self is  mistaken  and  that  she  is  not  so  old  as  she 
imagines  herself  to  be.  Indeed  I  entertain  no 
doubt  but  that  she  is  the  same  person  that  your 
family  have  mourned  .  after  for  more  than  half  a 
century  past. 

"  Your  obedient,  humble  servant, 

"George  W.  Ewing," 

All  necessary  arrangements  for  the  journey  hav^ 
ing  been  completed,  it  was  undertaken  by  the  two 

23* 


306  HISTORT    OF    WYOMING. 

surviving  brothers  and  their  sister ;  who,  accom- 
panied by  an  interpreter  engaged  in  the  Indian 
country,  reached  the  designated  place,  and  found 
the  lost  one.  But,  alas  !  how  changed  !  Instead 
of  the  fair-haired  and  laughing  girl,  the  picture 
yet  living  in  their  imaginations,  they  found  her  an 
aged  and  thorough-bred  squaw  in  every  thing  but 
complexion.  She  was  sitting,  when  they  entered 
her  lodge,  composed  of  two  large  log-houses  con- 
nected by  a  shed,  with  her  two  daughters,  the  one 
about  twenty-three  years  old,  and  the  other  about 
thirty-three,  and  three  or  four  pretty  grand-chil- 
dren. The  closing  hours  of  the  journey  had  been 
made  in  pensive  silence — deep  thoughts  strug- 
gling in  the  bosoms  of  all.  On  entering  the  lodge, 
the  first  exclamation  of  one  of  the  brothers  was — 
*'  Oh  God  !  is  that  my  sister  !"  A  moment  after- 
ward, and  the  sight  of  the  disfigured  thumb  left 
no  doubt  as  to  her  identity.  The  following  collo- 
quy, conducted  through  the  interpreter,  ensued ; 

"  What  was  your  name  when  a  child  ?" 

"  I  do  not  recollect." 

"  What  do  you  remember  ?" 

**  My  father,  my  mother,  the  long  river,  the 
stair-case  under  which  I  hid  when  they  came." 

*'  How  came  you  to  lose  your  thumb-nail  ?" 

"  My  brother  hammered  it  oflf,  a  long,  long  time 
ago,  when  I  was  a  very  little  girl  at  my  father's 
house." 


HISTOBY    OF    WYOMING.  307 

''  Do  you  know  how  many  brothers  and  sisters 
you  had  ?" 

She  then  mentioned  them,  and  in  the  order  of 
their  ages. 

"  Would  you  know  your  name,  if  you  should 
hear  it  repeated  ?" 

"  It  is  a  long  time  since,  and  perhaps  I  should 
not.'' 

"Was  it  Frances?" 

At  once  a  smile  played  upon  her  features,  and 
for  a  moment  there  seemed  to  pass  over  the  face 
whut  might  be  called  the  shadow  of  an  emotion, 
and  she  answered,  "  Yes  !"* 

Other  reminiscences  were  awakened,  and  the 
recognition  was  complete.  But  how  different 
were  the  emotions  of  the  parties !  The  brothers 
paced  the  lodge  in  agitation.  The  civilized  sis- 
ter was  in  tears.  The  other,  obedient  to  the  af- 
I  fected  stoicism  of  her  adopted  race,  was  as  cold, 

unmoved,  and  passionless  as  marble.     Her   two 
r  daughters  had  both  been  married,  but  the  youngest 

I  was  a  widow.     The  husband  of  the  other  was  a 

half-breed  Frenchman,  named  Brouriette,  bearing 
the  rank  of  "  Captain"  among  his  people  —  a 
man  of  cultivated  manners  and  elegant  appear- 
ance. It  required  considerable  time  to  overcome 
the  suspicions  of  the  long  lost  and  now  found  sis- 
ter, and  her  family,  that  the  strangers  were  their 

*  The  Lost  Sister. 


308  HISTORY    or    WYOMING. 

relatives.  They  were  however  at  length  persua- 
ded to  accompany  the  strangers  back  to  the  quar- 
ters they  had  secured,  nine  miles  distant,  and  pass 
the  night.  Yet  "  before  they  fully  yielded  their 
confidence,  it  was  necessary,  in  compliance  with 
Indian  usage,  to  give  and  receive  a  formal  pledge 
of  friendship.  To  this  end,  the  parties  being  all 
assembled,  the  eldest  daughter  brought  in  a  clean 
white  cloth,  carefully  roiled  up,  and  taid  it  on  the 
stand,  and  then,  through  the  Interpreter,  arose 
and  solemnly  presented  it  as  a  pledge  of  their  con- 
fidence. It  contained  the  hind  quarter  of  a  deer, 
which  they  had  probably  just  hunted  and  killed 
for  this  very  purpose.  The  brothers  and  sisters 
then  arose  and  as  solemnly  received  it  as  a  to» 
ken  of  friendship  and  kindness.  But  still,  they 
were  not  satisfied,  till  the  civilized  sister  had  gone 
and  formerly  taken  possession  of  the  cloth  and  its 
contents.  They  then  seemed  at  ease,  and  from 
that  moment,  gave  their  new  friends  their  entire 
confidence."*  The  ceremony  over,  the  party 
moved  ofl*  to  the  point  designated, — the  daughters 
of  Frances  mounting  their  spirited  Indian  horses, 
which  they  soon  gave  evidence  that  they  could 
manage  as  well  as  in  the  days  of  chivalry  did  the 
rather  masculine  spouse  of  Count  Robert  of  Paris, 
her  steed,  in  the  wars  of  the  Holy  Land,  as  de- 

♦  The  Lost  Sister. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 


309 


scribed  in  the  brilliant  romance  of  the  Crusaders, 
by  Sir  Walter  Scott. 

Neither  the  acquired  stoicism  of  her  adopted 
race,  jior  her  incommunicative  disposition,  was 
entirely  overcome  by  the  strangers.  Still  their 
persuasions  were  listened  to  by  degrees,  until  the 
old  lady  was  at  length  induced  to  relate  so  much 
of  her  history  as  she  could  remember, — ^manifest- 
ing no  small  degree  of  suspicion,  however,  on  the 
production  of  the  necessary  utensils  for  reducing 
the  narrative  to  writing.  This  narrative  was  in 
substance  as  follows  : — 

"  I  can  well  remember  the  day  when  the  Dela- 
ware Indians  came  suddenly  to  our  house.  I  re- 
member that  they  killed  and  scalped  a  man  near 
the  door,  taking  the  scalp  with  them.  They  then 
pushed  the  boy  through  the  door ;  he  came  to  me 
and  we  both  went  and  stood  under  the  stair-case. 
They  went  up  stairs  and  rifled  the  house,  though  I 
cannot  remember  what  they  took  except  some  loaf 
sugar  and  some  bundles.  I  remember  that  they 
took  me  and  the  boy  on  their  backs  through  the 
bushes.  I  believe  the  rest  of  the  family  had  fled, 
except  my  mother. 

''  They  carried  us  a  long  way  as  it  seemed  to 
me,  to  a  cave,  where  they  had  left  their  blankets 
and  travelling  things.  It  was  over  the  mountain 
and  a  long  way  down  on  the  other  side.  Heie 
they  stopped  while  it  was  yet  light,  and  there  we 


310  HISTORY    OF    A\'YOMING. 

staid  all  night.  I  can  remember  nothing  about 
that  night,  except  that  I  was  very  tired,  and  lay 
down  on  the  ground  and  cried  till  I  was  asleep. 
The  next  morning  we  set  out,  and  travelled  many 
days  in  the  woods  before  we  came  to  a  village  of 
Indians.  When  we  stopped  at  night,  the  Indians 
would  cut  down  a  few  boughs  of  hemlock  on 
which  to  sleep,  and  then  make  up  a  great  fire  of 
logs  at  their  feet,  which  lasted  all  night.  When 
they  cooked  any  thing,  they  stuck  a  stick  in  it, 
and  held  it  to  the  fire  as  long  as  they  chose. 
They  drank  at  the  brooks  and  springs,  and  for  me 
they  made  a  little  cup  of  white-birch  bark,  out  of 
which  I  drank.  I  can  only  remember  that  they 
staid  several  days  at  this  first  village,  but  where  it 
was,  I  have  no  recollection. 

<^  After  they  had  been  here  some  days,  very  ear- 
ly one  morning,  two  of  the  same  Indians  took  a 
horse,  and  placed  the  boy  and  me  upon  it,  and 
again  set  out  on  their  journey.  One  went  before 
on  foot,  and  the  other  behind,  driving  the  horse. 
In  this  way  we  travelled  a  long  way  till  we  came  to 
a  village  where  these  Indians  belonged.  I  now 
found  that  one  of  them  was  a  Delaware  Chief  by 
the  name  of  Tuck-Horse.  This  is  a  great  Dela- 
ware name,  but  I  do  not  know  its  meaning.  We 
were  kept  here  some  days,  when  they  came  and 
took  away  the  boy  and  I  never  saw  him  again,  and 
do  not  know  what  became  of  him. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  311 

"  Early  one  morning  this  Tuck-Horse  came  and 
took  me,  and  dressed  my  hair  in  the  Indian  way, 
and  then  painted  my  face  and  skin.  He  then 
dressed  me  in  beautiful  wampum-beads  and  made 
me  look,  as  I  thought,  very  fine.  I  was  much 
pleased  with  the  beautiful  wampum.  We  then 
lived  on  a  hill,  and  I  remember  he  took  me  by  the 
hand  and  led  me  down  to  the  river-side,  to  a  house 
where  lived  an  old  man  and  woman.  They  had 
once  had  several  children,  but  now  they  were  all 
gone  —  either  killed  in  battle,  or  having  died  when 
very  young.  When  the  Indians  thus  lose  all  their 
children,  they  often  adopt  some  new  child  as  their 
own,  and  treat  it  in  all  respects  like  their  own. 
This  is  the  reason  why  they  so  often  carry  away 
the  children  of  white  people.  I  was  brought  to 
these  old  people  to  have  them  adopt  me,  if  they 
would.  They  seemed  unwilling  at  first,  but  after 
Tuck-Horse  had  talked  with  them  a  while,  they 
agreed  to  it,  and  this  was  my  home.  They  gave 
me  the  name  of  We-Iet-a-wash,  which  was  the 
name  of  their  youngest  child  whom  they  had  late- 
ly buried.  It  had  now  got  to  be  the  fall  of  the 
year,  for  chestnuts  had  come.  The  Indians  were 
very  numerous  here,  and  here  we  remained  all  the 
following  winter.  The  Indians  were  in  the  service 
of  the  British,  and  were  furnished  by  them  with 
provisions.  They  seemed  to  be  the  gathered  rem- 
nants of  several  nations  of  Indians.     I  remember 


312  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

that  there  was  a  fort  here.  In  the  spring  I  went 
with  the  parents  who  had  adopted  me,  to  Sandus- 
ky, where  we  spent  the  next  summer  ;  but  in  the 
fall,  we  returned  again  to  the  fort,  —  the  place 
where  I  was  made  an  Indian  child,  and  here  we 
spent  the  second  winter.  In  the  next  spring  we 
went  down  to  a  large  river,  which  is  Detroit  River, 
where  we  stopped  and  built  a  great  number  of 
bark  canoes.  I  might  have  said  before,  that  there 
was  war  between  the  British  and  the  Americans, 
and  that  the  American  Army  had  driven  the  In- 
dians around  the  fort  where  I  was  adopted.  In 
their  fights,  I  remember  the  Indians  used  to  take 
and  bring  home  scalps,  but  I  do  not  know  how 
many.  When  our  canoes  were  all  done,  we  went 
up  Detroit  River,  where  we  remained  about  three 
years.  I  think  peace  had  now  been  made  between 
the  British  and  the  Americans,  and  so  we  lived  by 
hunting,  fishing,  and  raising  co»-n.  The  reason 
why  we  staid  here  so  long,  was,  that  we  heard 
that  the  Americans  had  destroyed  all  our  villages 
and  corn-fields.  After  these  years,  my  family  and 
another  Delaware  family  removed  to  Fort  Wayne. 
I  don't  know  where  the  other  Indians  went.  This 
was  now  our  home,  and  I  suppose  we  lived  here 
as  many  as  twenty-six  or  thirty  years.  I  was 
there  long  after  I  was  full  grown,  and  I  was  there 
at  the  time  of  Ilarmar's  defeat.  At  the  time 
when  this  battle  with  Harmar  was  fought,  the  wo- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  313 

men  and  children  were  all  made  to  run  north.  I 
cannot  remember  whether  the  Indians  took  any 
prisoners,  or  brought  home  any  scalps  at  this  time. 
After  the  battle,  they  all  scattered  to  their  various 
homes,  as  was  their  custom,  till  gathered  again  for 
some  particular  object.  I  then  returned  to  Fort 
Wayne  again.  The  Indians  who  returned  from 
this  battle  were  Delawares,  Pottawatamies,  Shawa- 
nese,  and  Miamis.  I  was  always  treated  well  and 
kindly  ;  and  while  I  lived  with  them,  I  Was  mar- 
ried to  a  Delaware.  He  afterwards  left  me  and 
the  country  and  went  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  Delawares  and  the  Miamis  were  then  all  liv- 
ing together.  I  was  afterwards  married  to  a  Mia- 
mi, a  chief,  and  a  deaf  man.  His  name  was  Che- 
por-on-wah.  After  being  married  to  him,  I  had 
four  children  —  two  boys  and  two  girls.  My  boy, 
both  died  while  young.  The  girls  are  living  and 
are  here  in  this  room  at  the  present  time.  I  can- 
not recollect  much  about  the  Indian  wars  with  the 
whites,  which  were  so  common  and  so  bloody.  I 
well  remember  a  battle  and  a  defeat  of  the  Ameri- 
cans at  Fort  Washington,  which  is  now  Cincin- 
nati. I  remember  how  Wayne,  or  *'  Mad  Antho- 
ny," drove  the  Indians  away  and  built  the  Fort. 
The  Indians  then  scattered  all  over  the  country, 
and  lived  upon  game  which  was  very  abundant. 
After  this  they  encamped  all  along  on  Eel  River. 
After  peace  was  made,  we  all  returned  to  Fort 
29 


314  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

Wayne,  and  received  provisions  from  the  Ameri- 
cans, and  there  I  lived  a  long  time.  I  had  remo- 
ved, with  my  family,  to  the  Missisineway  river 
sometime  before  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe.  The 
Indians  who  fought  in  that  battle  were  Kicka-' 
poos,  Pottawatamies  and  Shawanese.  The  Mia- 
mis  were  not  there.  I  heard  of  the  battle  on  the 
Missisineway,  but  my  husband  was  a  deaf  man  and 
never  went  to  the  wars,  and  I  did  not  know  much 
about  it." 

"  Was  you  ever  tired  of  living  with  the  Indi- 
ans ?" 

"  No.  I  had  always  enough  to  live  on,  and  to 
live  well.     They  always  used  me  very  kindly." 

"  Did  you  ever  know  that  you  had  white  rela- 
tions who  were  seeking  you  for  so  many  years  ?*' 

"  No.  No  one  told  me,  and  I  never  heard  of 
it.  I  never  thought  any  thing  about  my  white  rel- 
atives, unless  it  was  a  little  while  after  I  was  taken." 

"  But  we  live  where  our  father  and  mother  used 
to  live  on  the  banks  of  the  beautiful  Susquehanna, 
and  we  want  you  should  return  with  us.  We  will 
give  you  of  our  property,  and  you  shall  be  one  of 
us,  and  share  all  that  we  have.  You  shall  have  a 
good  house,  and  every  thing  you  desire.  O  do 
go  back  with  us." 

"  No  I  cannot.  I  have  always  lived  with  the 
Indians.  They  have  always  used  me  very  kindly. 
I  am  used  to  them.     The  Great  Spirit  has  always 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  315 

allowed  me  to  live  with  them,  and  I  wish  to  live 
and  die  with  them.  Your  Wah-jpuh-mone,  (look- 
ing-glass,) may  be  larger  than  mine,  but  this  is  my 
home.  I  do  not  wish  to  live  any  better,  or  any 
where  else,  and  I  think  the  Great  Spirit  has  per- 
mitted me  to  live  so  long,  because  I  have  always 
lived  with  the  Indians.  I  should  have  died  sooner 
if  I  had  left  them.  My  husband  and  my  boys  are 
buried  here,  and  I  cannot  leave  them.  On  his 
dying  day  my  husband  charged  me  not  to  leave 
the  Indians.  I  have  a  house,  and  large  lands,  two 
daughters,  a  son-in-law,  three  grand-children,  and 
every  thing  to  make  me  comfortable.  Why  should 
I  go,  and  be  like  a  fish  out  of  the  water  ?" 

''And  I,"  said  Brouriette,  her  son-in-law,  "  know 
all  about  it.     I  was  born  at  Fort  Harrison,  about 
two  miles  from  Terre  Haute.     When  I  was  ten 
years  old,  I  went  to  Detroit.     I  was  married  to  . 
this  woman  about  thirteen  years  ago.     The  people 
about  here,  and  at  Logansport,  and  at  Miamisport, 
have  known  me  ever  since  the  country  has  been 
settled  by  the  whites.     They  know  me  to  be  in- 
dustrious, to  manage  well,  and  to  maintain  my 
family  respectably.     My  mother-in-law's  sons  are 
dead,  and  I  stand  in  their  place  to  her.     I  mean 
to  maintain  her  well  as  long  as  she  lives,  for  the 
truth  of  which  you  may  depend  on  the  word  of 
Capt.  Brouriette." 

^'  What  Capt.  Brouriette  says,"  added  the  old 


316  HISTORY    OF    WYOiMING. 

lady,  "  is  true.  He  has  always  treated  me  kindly, 
and  I  am  satisfied  with  him — perfectly  satisfied, — 
and  I  hope  my  connexions  will  not  feel  any  unea- 
siness about  me.  The  Indians  are  my  people.  I 
do  no  work.  I  sit  in  the  house  with  these  my  two 
daughters,  who  do  the  work,  and  I  sit  with  them." 

*'  But  will  you  at  least,  go  and  make  a  visit  to 
your  early  home,  and  when  you  have  seen  us,  re- 
turn again  to  your  children  ?'^ 

**  I  cannot.  I  cannot.  I  am  an  old  tree.  It 
cannot  move  about.  I  was  a  sapling  when  they 
took  me  away.  It  is  all  gone  past.  I  am  afraid 
I  should  die  and  never  come  back.  I  am  happy 
here.  I  shall  die  here  and  lie  in  that  grave-yard, 
and  they  will  raise  the  pole  at  my  grave  with  the 
white  flag  on  it,  and  the  Great  Spirit  will  know 
where  to  find  me.  I  should  not  be  happy  with 
my  white  relatives.  I  am  glad  enough  to  see  theno, 
but  I  cannot  go.     I  cannot  go.     I  have  done." 

''  When  the  whites  take  a  squaw,"  said  Brouri* 
ette,  with  much  animation,  as  if  delighted  with  the 
decision  of  the  old  lady,  "  they  make  her  work  like 
a  slave.  It  was  never  so  with  this  woman.  If  I 
had  been  a  drunken,  worthless  fellow,  this  woman 
could  not  have  lived  to  this  age.  But  I  have  al- 
ways treated  her  well.  TIkj  village  is  called  Deaf 
Man's  Village  after  her  husband.     I  have  done." 

The  eldest  daughter,  whose  name  is  Kick-ke^ 
se-qua,  or  " cut-finger ^^  assented  to  all  that  had 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  317 

been  said,  and  added  that  "  the  deer  cannot  live 
out  of  the  forest." 

The  youngest  daughter,  Oshow-se-quah,  or 
"  yellow  leaves,^'  confirmed  all,  and  thought  that 
her  mother  could  not  go  even  on  a  visit,  "  because," 
said  she,  "  the  fish  dies  quickly  out  of  the  water." 

The  brothers  and  sister  returned,  unable  to 
win  back  their  tawny  sister  from  her  wilds  even 
long  enough  to  make  them  a  visit.  She  was  not 
just  what  their  hopes  had  painted ;  but  she  was 
all  that  an  Indian  could  be  in  her  circumstances. 
Yet  their  love  for  her  was  not  quenched.* 

*  The  whole  of  this  simple  narrative,  is  taken  verbatim,  from  Mr.  Todd's 
little  book  —  he,  of  course  drawing  the  statement  from  the  memoranda 
written  at  the  time  of  the  interview,  by  the  Messrs.  Slocums, 


23* 


CHAPTER  IX.       - 

Continuation  of  the  History,— The  State  Government  succeeds  that  of  the 
Proprietaries,— Conduct  of  the  State  to  the  heirs  of  Penn,— The  Slate 
claims  the  title  to  the  Wyoming  lands, — Appeals  to  Congress,— A  Com- 
mission appointed,- Decision  in  favQr  of  Pennsylvania,- Dissatisfaction 
of  the  people,— State  troops  sent  to  Wyoming,— Arrogant  and  disgraceful 
conduct  of  magistrates  and  soldiers,— Appeal  of  the  people  to  Congress, 
—Terrible  Inundation,— Sufferings  of  the  people,- Rapacity  of  the  sol- 
diers,—Sympathy  of  the  public  excited  in  thsir  oehalf.-Banditti,— Re- 
newal of  the  Civil  War,  — The  State  troops  besieged,— Siege  raised, — 
Commissioners  again  sent  to  Wyoming,— Ineffectual  negotiations,— 
Movement  of  troops  against  the  valley, — Colonel  Armstrong  appointed 
to  the  command,— Repulse  of  Major  Moore,— The  people  siezed,  disarm- 
ed, and  imprisoned  by  treachery,— Armstrong  plunders  the  fields,— Re- 
sistance of  the  people,— [lis  troops  defeated,— The  people  re-take  their 
arms,- Armstrong  returns  to  Pliiladelphia,- Another  expedition,- Sym- 
pathy for  the  people,- Interposition  of  the  Council  of  Censors, — Gloomy 
situation  of  affairs  in  the  valley, — Armstrong  makes  a  final  retreat,— 
Better  state  of  feeling,— Mediation  of  Colonel  Pickering,— Compromise 
JLaw,— Opposed  by  John  Franklin  and  some  of  the  people, —  Affray,— 
Franklin's  arrest  and  imprisonment  for  treason,— Insurrection,— Flight 
of  Colonel  Pickering,— His  return  and  extraordinary  captivity,— Release, 
— Final  adjustment  of  the  controversy,— Conclusion, 

Unfortunately  for  Wyoming,  its  troubles  ceas- 
ed not  with  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  That 
contest  was  in  fact  ended  by  the  fall  of  Yorktown, 
and  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis,  in  October,  1791, 
though  not  by  official  acknowledgment  until  the 
treaty  of  1783.  There  was,  however,  a  conven- 
tional cessation  of  active  hostilities ;  and  with  the 
disappearance  of  danger  from  the  Indians  on  the 
frontier,  Connecticut  again  poured  her  hundreds 
of  emigrants  into  the  beautiful  vale  which  nature 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  319 

had  destined  as  the  paradise  of  the  Susquehanna. 
But  in  regard  to  the  proprietorship  of  the  lands, 
although  the  government  of  Pennsylvania  had 
changed  hands,  no  change  had  been  wrought  in 
favor  of  the  Connecticut  claimants ;  and  the 
swarms  of  Yankees  now  alighting  in  the  valley 
were  looked  upon  with  an  evil  eye.  Tlie  govern- 
ment of  the  Proprietaries  had  been  abolished  at 
the  commencement  of  the  revolution.  The  prin- 
cipal heirs  to  the  grant  of  Wilham  Penn  already 
resided  in  England,  and  the  others,  John  and 
Richard  Penn,  had  also  retired  thither.  Both 
Richard  and  John  had  administered  the  colonial 
government.  The  administration  of  Richard,  who 
was  superseded  by  John  in  1763,  had  been  very 
popular,  especially  with  the  merchants.  John 
Penn  was  at  the  head  of  the  Proprietaries'  gov- 
ernment at  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion,  and 
his  feelings  and  sympathies  were  for  a  season  sup- 
posed to  be  in  unison  with  those  of  the  colonists, 
until  after  the  adoption  of  the  address  to  the 
crown,  by  the  Congress  of  1775,  when  Governor 
Penn  attempted  to  persuade  the  colonial  legislature 
to  adopt  a  separate  address,  of  a  more  conciliatory 
character.  But  the  Assembly  was  not  disposed 
to  separate  Pennsylvania  from  the  united  action  of 
the  colonies.  The  differences  between  the  Gov- 
ernor and  his  refractory  legislature  increased,  until 
the  latter,  with  the  people  of  Pennsylvania,  thor- 


320  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

oughly  espoused  the  cause  of  the  revolution,  and 
the  government  of  the  Proprietaries  expired  on  the 
26th  of  September,  1776.  About  the  year  1778, 
the  legislature  of  the  State  enacted  a  law  stripping 
the  heirs  of  William  Penn  of  all  the  vacant  lands 
within  its  territory,  leaving  them  only  a  few  tracts 
of  unsettled  lands,  called  Manors,  which  had  been 
actually  located  and  surveyed.  As  an  acknowl- 
edgement of  the  merits  and  claims  of  the  family  of 
Penn,  however,  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  thirty 
thousand  pounds  sterling  was  voted  them  as  an 
indemnification,  in  addition  to  the  Manors.  But 
there  was  at  the  same  time  due  those  heirs  about 
five  hundred  thousand  pounds,  for  lands  they  had 
sold  the  inhabitants,  and  for  quit-rents.*  It  has 
been  held  that  the  State  might  have  considered 
the  proprietary  claims  as  a  royalty,  to  which  an 
independent  government  might  lawfully  succeed.f 
Still  no  such  claim  was  preferred  ;  and  the  pretext 
for  what  has  been  considered  by  some  an  act  of 
violence  against  the  just  rights  of  those  heirs,  was, 
that  so  large  a  property  in  the  hands  of  a  few  in- 
dividuals endangered  the  liberties  of  the  people.J 
Having  thus  made  itself  the  successor  to  the 
Proprietaries,  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  was  not 
slow  in  the  interposition  of  its  claim  to  the  terri- 

*  Pickering's  Letter  to  his  son.    The  amount  of  Land  thus  seized  was 
about  six  millions  of  acres,  according  to  Mr.  Pickering. 
t  Encycloptedia  Americana.    Art.  Pennsylvania. 
X  Pickering's  Letter. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  321 

tory  of  Wyoming,  and  the  entire  domain  of  the 
Susquehanna  and  Delaware  companies.  The  ar- 
ticles of  confederation  having  made  provision  for 
the  adjustment  of  difficulties  arising  between  states, 
and  Connecticut  insisting  upon  the  jurisdiction  it 
had  so  long  exercised  over  the  Wyoming  settle- 
ments, Pennsylvania  now  applied  to  Congress  for 
the  appointment  of  a  commission  to  hear  the  par- 
ties, and  determine  the  question.  Commissioners 
were  accordingly  appointed,  who  met  at  Trenton, 
in  the  State  of  New-Jersey,  late  in  the  Autumn  of 
1782.*  After  a  session  of  five  weeks,  the  com- 
missioners, on  the  30th  of  December,  came  to  the 
unanimous  decision  that  Connecticut  had  no  right 
to  the  land  in  controversy,  and  that  the  jurisdiction 
and  preemption  of  all  the  lands  within  her  char- 
tered limits  belonged  to  Pennsylvania. 

The  people  of  Wyoming  viewed  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  commission  of  Congress  with  compar- 
ative indifference — considering,  or  affecting  to 
consider,  that  the  question  at  issue  before  it  was  one 
of  jurisdiction  only.     Their  allegiance  might  as- 

*  The  State  of  Connecticut  appointed  Colonel  Dyer,  Doctor  Johnson,  and 
Jesse  Root,  as  agents  to  attend  the  Board  of  Commissioners  on  her  behalf; 
and  Messrs.  Bradford,  Reed,  Wilson,  and  Sergeant,  were  appointed  on  the 
part  of  Pennsylvania.  The  Colonel  Dyer  here  named,  had  been  concerned 
in  the  Susquehanna  Company  from  the  first,  and  had  been  its  agent  iu 
London.  He  was  a  lawyer  in  Windham,  and  was  the  same  gentleman 
who  has  been  immortalized  in  the  celebrated  tradition  of  the  invasion  of 
Windham  by  the  frogs.  One  of  the  Elderkins,  also  named  in  the  same 
tradition,  was  for  a  time  an  early  resident  of  Wyoming. 


322  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

well  be  rendered  to  Pennnsylvania  as  to  Connec- 
ticut, so  that  they  were  left  in  the  undisturbed 
enjoyment  of  their  farms ;  and  even  the  explicit 
phraseology  of  the  decree  of  the  commission,  de- 
claring that  Connecticut  had  ^'  no  right  to  the  land 
in  controversy,"  gave  them  Httle  concern,  suppo- 
sing, as  they  subsequently  contended,  that  it  meant 
no  more  than  the  fact  that  the  State  of  Connecti- 
cut had  conveyed  all  her  right  to  the  soil,  to  the 
Susquehanna  Company,  from  which  latter  their 
title  was  derived.  They  therefore,  under  this 
mental  construction,  acquiesced  at  once  in  the  de- 
cision, and  by  a  formal  memorial  to  the  General 
Assembly,  signified  their  willingness  to  conform  to 
the  laws  and  obey  the  constituted  authorities  of 
Pennsylvania.* 

Far  different,  however,  was  the  construction  of 
that  decree  by  the  Pennsylvanians.  They  contend- 
ed not  only  for  the  jurisdiction,  but  for  the  soil, 
and  the  General  Assembly  took  immediate  meas- 
ures preparatory  to  a  sweeping  ejectment  of  the 
settlers.  The  decree  from  Trenton  having  been 
received,  the  General  Assembly  passed  a  resolu- 
tion, on  the  20th  of  February,  declaring  the  peo- 
ple then  settled  in  Wyoming,  on  yielding  obedi- 
ence to  the  laws,  to  be  entitled  to  protection,  and 
the  benefits  of  civil  government,  in  common  with 

*  Chapman. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  323 

Other  citizens  of  the  State.  On  the  25th  of  the 
same  month,  three  Commissioners  were  appointed, 
who  were  to  act  as  magistrates,  in  Wyoming,  in- 
quire into  the  state  of  the  country,  and  recommend 
proper  measures  for  adoption  toward  the  settlers.* 
These  Commissioners  were  directed  to  repair  to 
Wyoming  in  April ;  meantime,  in  the  month  of 
March,  under  the  transparent  pretext  of  affording 
protection  to  the  settlement,  the  Council  ordered 
two  companies  of  rangers  to  be  raised  and  sta- 
tioned there,  under  the  command  of  Captains 
Thomas  Robinson  and  Philip  Shrawder.  These 
companies  arrived  on  the  21st  and  24th  of  March, 
and  taking  possession  of  Fort  Wyoming,  changed 
its  name  to  Fort  Dickinson,  in  honor  of  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  Council  of  State.f 

It  was  very  natural  that  this  military  demon- 
stration, the  object  of  which,  the  war  being  over, 
could  not  be  misconceived,  would  create  great 
uneasiness ;  which  feeling,  when  the  Commission- 
ers came  to  report,  was  at  once  aroused  to  the 
verge  of  insurrection.  They  reported  that  a  rea- 
sonable compensation  in  land  should  be  made  to 
the  families  of  those  who  had  fallen  in  arms 
against  the  common  enemy,  and  to  such  other  set- 


*  These  Commissioners  were  William  Montgomery,  Moses  M'Lean,  and 
John  Montgomery. 

t  Under  the  first  State  Cohstitution  of  Pennsylvania,  there  was  no  Gov- 
ernor or  Senate. 


324  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

tiers  holding  under  proper  Connecticut  titles,  as 
were  actual  residents  of  Wyoming  at  the  date  of 
the  Trenton  decree  ;  conditioned  that  they  should 
relinquish  all  claim  to  the  soil  then  in  their  posses- 
sion, and  make  a  full  and  entire  surrender  of  their 
tenures.  In  other  words,  they  were  to  relinquish 
all  their  present  lands  and  improvements,  purchas- 
ed by  unheard-of  sufferings,  and  consecrated  by 
the  blood  of  their  kindred  ;  in  lieu  of  which  they 
were  to  receive  an  indefinite  compensation,  at  the 
option  of  their  enemies,  in  the  wild  lands  of  some 
region  unknown.  Conditions  like  these  they  were 
in  no  temper  to  brook,  more  especially  as  the  ar- 
rogant conduct  of  the  troops  stationed  there  had 
already  exasperated  them  almost  to  a  point  beyond 
which  endurance  ceases  to  be  a  virtue.  The  sum- 
mer of  that  year,  (1782,)  was  therefore  passed  in 
a  state  of  high  excitement, — tlie  troops  deporting 
themselves  in  a  spirit  of  tyrannical  domination, 
and  committing  many  outrages,  disgraceful  to  the 
character  of  civilized  men. 

In  tlie  month  of  September,  Captain  Robinson's 
company  was  relieved  by  another  detachment  of 
State  troops,  under  Captain  Christie,  the  command 
of  the  station  at  the  same  time  being  conferred 
upon  a  militia  Major  named  James  Moore.  Two 
special  Justices  of  the  Peace  were  likewise  ap- 
pointed for  the  district,  the  names  of  whom  were 
Patterson  and  West,  with  directions  to  repair  to 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  326 

the  disputed  territory,  with  Major  Moore,  and  by 
the  aid  and  protection  of  the  miUtary,  form  a  tri- 
bunal for  the  adjudication  of  all  questions  arising 
under  the  civil  law.      The  immediate  object  of 
constituting  this  tribunal,  the  authority  of  which 
was  to  be  sustained  by  the  bayonet,  very  soon  be- 
come apparent.     It  was  none  other  than  to  dispos- 
sess the  Connecticut  settlers  of  their  plantations  : 
per  fas  aut  nefas,  and  award  them  to  such  claim- 
ants as  might  present  themselves  under  the  Penn- 
sylvania title.     They  began  their  judicial  labors 
in  the  most  arbitrary  and  oppressive  manner,  and 
the  military  executed  their  decrees  in  a  spirit  of 
cruelty  and  vindictiveness,  which  would  have  re- 
flected  discredit  upon  the  hordes  led  into  that  af- 
flicted region  four  years  before  by  Gi-en-gwah-toh 
himself.     The  people  were   not  only  subjected  to 
.  insult,  but  their  crops  were  destroyed  in  the  fields, 
their  cattle  were  seized   and  driven  away,  and  in 
some  instances  their  houses  were  destroyed  by  fire, 
and  the  females  rendered  the  victims  of  armed  li- 
centiousness.*    The  real  object  of  this  rigorous 
treatment  was  not  only  to  strip  the  people  of  their 
possessions,  but  by  wearying  them  of  their  '^  prom- 
ised land,"  drive  them  from  the  valley.f 

Considering    the    indomitable    and    fiery    spirit 
characterizing  the   Connecticut  emigrants  during 

*  Chapman.  t  Pickering's  Letter, 

29 


326  HISTORY    01^    WtOMJNCf. 

the  severe  trials  they  had  encountered  in  preceding 
year^,  it  is  a  subject  of  surprise  that  these  oppres- 
sive acts  were  submitted  to,  even  for  a  single  week  ; 
and  it  can  only  be  accounted  fOr  upon  the  suppo- 
sition, that,  wearied  by  the  harrassing  contentions 
of  years,  they  were  now  earnestly  seeking  repose. 
Instead,  therefore,  of  an  immediate  appeal  to  arms, 
they  now  sought  redress  by  an  appeal  to  the  Legis- 
lature of  Pennsylvania  for  protection.     Their  first 
memorial,  which  ought  to  have  been  acted  upon 
in  December,  seeming  to  be  unheeded,  the  people 
next  spread  their  case  before  Congress,  and  pray- 
ed for  the  intervention  of  that  body,  by  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  commission,  under  the  ninth  Arti- 
cle of  the  Confederation,   to  hear  and  determine 
the  question  as  to  the  right  of  soil.     The  memo- 
rial was  favorably  received,  and  it  was  ordered  on 
the  23d  of  January,  17S4,  that  Congress,  or  a  com- 
mittee of  the  States,  should  hear  the  parties  on 
the  fourth  Monday  of  the  then  ensuing  month  of 
June.     But  greatly  to  the  disappointment  of  the 
people,  neither  Congress  nor  a  committee  of  the 
states  was  in  session  at  the  time  designated,  "  and 
the  controversy  came  to  no  determination." 

Meantime,  however,  the  inhabitants  had  been 
doomed  to  suffer  from  a  calamity  of  a  different 
character,  inflicted  by  an  arm  more  powerful  than 
that  of  man.  The  winter  of  1783 — '84,  was  one 
of  uncommon  severity.     The  weather  was  so  in- 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  327 

tensely  cold  that  the  ice  upon  the  surface  of  the 
river  formed  to  an  unusual  thickness,  and  the 
snow  fell  to  an  extraordinary  depth.  Protected 
from  the  gradual  action  of  the  sun  by  the  dense 
forests  overspreading  almost  the  entire  country, 
the  snow  lay  upon  the  mountains,  and  was  piled 
up  in  the  ravines,  in  immense  masses,  when  sud- 
denly a  warm  rain  set  in  on  the  13th  of  March, 
which  continued  falling  until  the  15th.  A  rapid 
dissolution  of  the  snow  caused  a  corresponding 
swelling  of  the  streams  tributary  to  the  Susque- 
hanna, and  a  premature  breaking  up  of  the  ice 
was  the  consequence.  The  first  breaking  was  at 
the  successive  rapids,  from  each  of  which  the  ice 
was  borne  along  in  masses  over  the  still  sections 
of  the  river  yet  sleeping  beneath  its  frozen  chains, 
until  arrested  by  trees,  or  some  other  intervening 
obstacles,  against  which  it  lodged.  By  this  pro- 
cess several  dams  were  formed  in  the  valley,  espe- 
cially at  the  lower  end,  where  it  is  almost  cut  off 
by  the  approximating  points  of  the  mountains 
upon  either  side.  These  dams  caused  the  waters 
to  flow  back  and  accumulate,  until  the  entire  val- 
ley was  overflowed,  and  the  inhabitants  compelled 
to  flee  to  the  little  hills  rising  in  the  valley ,=^  and 

*  One  of  these  elevations  which  impart  an  agreeable  variety  to  the  aspect 
of  the  valley,  juts  out  sharply  almost  into  the  river,  not  far  above  the  inter- 
section of  Mill  Creek.  It  was  the  site  of  one  of  the  Yankee  defences 
against  Ogden,  heretofore  mentioned.  From  its  crest,  the  landscape  is  aa 
beautiful  as  fancy  can  paint.    Upon  the  summit  of  this  hill  sleep  the  re- 


328  HISTORY    OF    WYOMIIfO. 

to  the  mountains,  for  their  Hves,  leaving  their  cat- 
tle and  flocks,  their  provisions,  and  the  greater 
part  of  their  household  goods  to  the  mercy  of  the 
flood.  Some  of  them  had  more  than  once  been 
compelled  to  look  back  upon  the  valley  from  the 
same  mountains,  when  blazing  like  a  sea  of  fire. 
Equally  appalling,  and  if  possible  more  dreary,  was 
the  spectacle,  now  that  the  valley  resembled  a  hy- 
perborean lake,  the  ice  of  which  had  been  broken 
into  floating  masses  by  a  tempest.  The  waters 
continued  to  accumulate  for  many  hours,  up- 
raising houses,  barns,  and  fences  upon  their  bo- 
som, until  at  length  a  large  dam  in  the  mountain- 
gorge  above  the  valley  gave  way,  causing  at  once 
a  mighty  increase,  and  a  tremendous  rush  of  the 
flood,  which,  as  it  hurried  impetuously  down, 
swept  every  thing  before  it.  The  fetters  of  the 
more  tranquil  sections  of  the  river  gave  way  at 
the  same  time,  the  ice  heaving  up  in  ponderous 
masses,  and  making  the  valley  to  echo  with  their 
thunder  as  they  broke.  It  was  a  scene  of  terrific 
grandeur,  to  behold  the  maddened  floods  rolling 
onward  in  their  irresistible  strength,  and  bearing 


mains  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Johnstone,  the  first  clergyman  of  Wyoming.  He 
was  a  good  scliolar  and  a  man  of  talents — greatly  beloved  by  the  flock 
over  w  hich  he  watched  for  ninny  years.  He  was,  however,  an  eccentric 
man,  entertaining  some  peculiar  views  in  theology.  He  believed  in  tbe 
second  coming  and  personal  reign  of  Christ  upon  earth  ;  and  insisted  upon 
being  buried  here,  facing  the  east,  so  that  he  could  see  the  glorious  pa- 
geant of  the  Messiah  in  his  second  descent. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  329 

upon  their  bosom  the  wrecks  of  houses  and  barns, 
with  stacks  of  hay,  and  huge  trunks  of  trees,  and 
broken  fragments  of  timber,  with  piles  of  ice  and 
drowned  cattle,  all  mingled  in  destructive  confu- 
sion together,  and  hurrying  forward  as  though 
anxious  to  escape  such  a  region  of  desolation  for 
the  more  tranquil  repose  of  the  ocean.  But  it  was 
a  heart-rending  spectacle  to  the  poor  settlers,  thus 
again  to  look  upon  the  entire  destruction  of  their 
earthly  goods,  with  the  certainty  that  when  the 
flood  should  abate,  they  could  only  return  to  wan- 
der in  destitution  amidst  the  "  wreck  of  matter," 
while  even  the  sunny  face  of  hope  had  become 
almost  as  dark  as  despair.  As  the  waters  subsided, 
huge  piles  of  ice  were  deposited  upon  the  plain  of 
Wilkesbarre,  so  thick  that  the  fervid  heat  of  al' 
most  the  whole  summer  was  required  for  its  dis- 
solution.* 

Disheartened,  but  not  broken,  the  people  re- 
turned as  soon  as  the  floods  would  permit,  and 
with  the  opening  spring  commenced  once  more 
the  labor  of  repairing  their  dilapidated  fortunes, — » 
with  which  the  never-ending  still-beginning  la- 
bors of  the  fabled  Sisyphus  w^ere  but  as  child's 
play  in  comparison,  and,  judging  from  the  past, 
scarcely  less  promising  for  the  future.  The  de- 
struction of  their  cattle  and  provisions  had  been 

♦Chapman, 

29* 


330  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

SO  general,  that  gloomy  apprehensions  of  a  famine 
pressed  upon  their  minds,  and  there  must  have 
been  great  suffering  but  for  the  assistance  re- 
ceived from  abroad.  And  what  httle  of  food  had 
been  preserved,  or  was  furnished  to  them,  was 
snatched  almost  from  their  mouths  by  the  sol- 
diers, sent  thither  to  guard  and  torment  them, 
and  who  now  became  more  ungovernable  and 
rapacious  than  before.  Such  an  accumulation  of 
calamities  was  well  calculated  to  awaken  the  sym- 
pathies of  the  people  wherever  the  story  was  re- 
hearsed, and  those  sympathies,  generally,  were 
not  appealed  to  in  vain.  Mr.  Dickinson,  the  Pre- 
sident of  the  Council  of  State,  spontaneously  in- 
vited the  attention  of  that  body  to  the  subject, 
and  recommended  the  adoption  of  measures  for 
the  immediate  relief  of  the  sufferers  ;  but  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  looked  coldly  upon  a  people  whose 
coming  into  the  state  had  been  without  leave,  and 
whose  presence  had  caused  them  so  much  trouble. 
The  efforts  of  the  President  were  therefore  not 
seconded  by  those  holding  the  keys  of  the  treas- 
ury. 

The  sufferers,  however,  sustained  by  the  all- 
conquering  spirit  of  their  race,  recommenced  their 
labors  with  their  wonted  energy  ;  and  but  for  the 
conduct  of  he  soldiery,  the  valley -might  again 
have  become  the  home  of  peace,  smiling  once 
more  in  beauty.     But  the  magistrates  sent  thitlier 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  331 

for  that  purpose  revived  their  oppressive  measures, 
and  countenanced  the  outrages  of  the  soldiers,  un- 
til the  people,  chafed  beyond  longer  endurance, 
determined  upon  forcible  resistance  to  their  man- 
dates. Enraged  at  this  resolution,  the  magistrates 
proceeded  against  the  settlers  as  though  they  were 
insurgents.  On  the  12th  of  May  the  soldiers 
of  the  garrison  were  sent  to  disarm  the  people, 
and  in  the  progress  of  the  work  "  one  hundred  and 
fifty  families  were  turned  out  of  their  newly  con- 
structed dwelhngs,  many  of  which  were  burnt, 
and  all  ages  and  sexes  reduced  once  more  to  a 
state  of  destitution.  After  being  plundered  of 
their  Ittle  remaining  property,  they  were  driven 
from  the  valley,  and  compelled  to  proceed  on  foot 
through  the  wilderness  by  the  way  of  the  Lacka- 
waxen  river  to  the  Delaware — a  distance  of  eighty 
miles.  During  this  journey  the  unhappy  fugitives 
suffered  all  the  miseries  which  human  nature  ap- 
pears capable  of  enduring.  Old  men,  whose  sons 
had  been  slain  in  battle,  widows,  with  their  infant 
children,  and  children  without  parents  to  protect 
them,  were  here  companions  in  exile  and  sorrow, 
and  wandering  in  a  wilderness  where  famine  and 
ravenous  beasts  daily  reduced  the  number  of  the 
sufferers.  One  shocking  instance  of  suffering  is 
related  by  a  survivor  of  this  scene  of  death :  it  is 
the  case  of  a  mother,  whose  infant  having  died, 
she  was  driven  to  the  dreadful  alternative  of  roast- 


332  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

ing  the  body  by  piecemeal  for  the  daily  subsist- 
ence of  her  remaining  children  !"* 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  atrocities  like  these 
would  be  sanctioned  by  the  government  of  any 
civilized  community.  The  General  Assembly,  in 
refusing  a  vote  of  supplies  for  the  sufferers  by  the 
flood,  were  believed  to  have  been  acting  under 
the  influence  of  the  Pennsylvania  claimants  to  the 
lands  of  Wyoming  ;  and  the  instigations  of  these 
avaricious  men,  beyond  doubt,  had  prompted  Jus- 
tices Patterson  and  West,  and  the  soldiers  under 
them,  to  the  course  of  wrong  and  outrage  that  had 
been  pursued.  When,  however,  the  naked  facts 
came  to  be  known  to  the  government,  great  indig- 
nation was  produced.  A  commission  was  des- 
patched to  Wyoming,  to  inquire  into  the  state  of 
the  settlement,  and  their  report  was  such  as  to 
cause  the  discharge  of  the  troops,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  small  guard  left  at  Fort  Dickinson.  A 
proclamation  was  likewise  issued,  inviting  the 
people  who  had  been  driven  away,  to  return  to 
their  homes,  with  a  promise  of  protection  on  a 
due  submission  to  the  laws.  To  a  considerable  ex- 
tent this  proclamation  produced  the  desired  effect, 
and  the  people  returned. 

But  the  valley  was  not  yet  destined  to  become 
a  place  of  quiet.     The  discharged  soldiers  had  be- 

*  Chapman. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  333 

come  partisans  of  the  Pennsylvania  land  claim- 
ants. Many  of  them  were,  moreover,  dissolute  ; 
and  after  being  disbanded,  they  hung  around  the 
settlements,  living  like  banditti  upon  plunder.  By 
the  middle  of  July,  so  many  of  them  had  rejoined 
the  guard  in  Fort  Dickinson,  that  the  garrison  was 
becoming  formidable,  and  the  inhabitants,  for  self- 
protection,  repaired  and  garrisoned  Fort  Forty. 
On  the  20th  of  July,  a  party  of  the  people  in  that 
fort,  having  occasion  to  visit  their  fields  of  grain 
five  miles  below,  were  fired  upon  by  a  detachment 
of  thirty  of  Justice  Patterson's  men,  from  Fort 
Dickinson,  commanded  by  a  man  named  William 
Brink,  and  two  of  the  people,  Chester  Pierce  and 
Elisha  Garret,  young  men  of  promise,  were  killed^ 
The  loss  of  these  distinguished  young  men  was 
deeply  lamented,  and  the  inhabitants  determined 
that  their  death  should  be  avenged.  Three  days 
afterward,  the  garrison  of  Fort  Forty  marched  up- 
on Wilkesbarre  in  the  night,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  prisoners  of  Patterson  and  his  men,  who 
were  in  the  habit  of  lodging  without  the  fort, 
when  not  apprehensive  of  danger;  but  having 
been  apprized  of  the  intention  of  the  people,  they 
had  disposed  themselves  again  for  the  night  within 
the  fort,  and  made  preparations  for  defence.  Not 
being  prepared  to  invest  the  fortress  immediate- 
ly, the  people  took  possession  of  the  flouring  mill, 
which  had  been  occupied  by  Patterson  and  his  re- 


334  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

tainers,  and  having  laid  in  a  store  of  provisions  for 
themselves  at  Fort  Forty,  they  retired  thither  for 
the  purpose  of  counsel  and  preparation  for  ulteri- 
or measures. 

Three  days  afterward  the  fort  was  invested  by 
the  people.  The  garrison  consisted  of  about  sixty 
men,  provided  with  four  pieces  of  ordnance,  and 
one  hundred  and  sixty  muskets.  For  the  cannon 
there  was  no  ammunition  ;  but  having  a  good  sup- 
ply for  their  small  arms,  and  having  despatched 
an  express  to  Philadelphia  for  assistance,  they  de- 
termined to  hold  out  until  the  arrival  of  reinforce- 
ments. The  leader  of  the  besiegers  in  this  insur- 
rection —  if  such  it  might  be  properly  called  —  was 
John  Franklin,  a  native  of  Connecticut  —  an  in- 
fluential and  resolute  man  —  prime  agent  of  the 
Susquehanna  Company,  and  a  colonel  by  popular 
election.*  On  the  27th  of  July,  it  having  been 
determined  to  attempt  carrying  the  fort  by  storm 
Franklin,  ''in  the  name  and  on  the  behalf  of  the 
injured  and  incensed  inhabitants  holding  their  lands 
under  the  Connecticut  claim,"  sent  a  formal  sum- 
mons to  the  garrison  to  surrender,  not  the  fortress 
only,  but  likewise  the  possessions  and  other  proj>- 
erty  of  the  besiegers,  which  had  been  taken  from 
them  "  in  a  hostile  and  unconstitutional  manner.'* 
it  was  added  that  if  the  summons  should  be  com- 

^  Letter  of  Colonel  Pickering. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  533 

plied  with,  they  "  should  be  treated  with  humanity 
and  commiseration  —  otherwise,  the  consequences 
would  prove  fatal  and  bloody  to  every  person 
found  in  the  garrison."  Two  hours  were  allowed 
them  for  an  answer.  But  before  these  two  hours 
had  elapsed,  information  was  received  from  below, 
that  the  magistrates  of  the  county  of  Northumber- 
land, (to  which  Wyoming  had  been  attached,)  at 
the  head  of  a  body  of  troops,  were  marching  to  the 
succor  of  the  garrison  ;  whereupon  the  siege  was 
immediately  raised,  and  the  assailants  returned  to 
Fort  Forty,  resolving  to  remain  there  until  the 
magistrates  should  arrive. 

The  belligerent  proceedings  of  the  inhabitants 
in  this  emergency  can  the  more  readily  be  justi- 
jfied,  when  it  is  considered  that  the  party  in  the 
fort,  at  the  head  of  which  was  Justice  Patterson, 
was  now  making  war  upon  them  in  behalf  of  the 
Pennsylvania  claimants,  on  their  own  account. 
Under  these  circumstances,  the  people  had  a  right, 
not  only  to  protect  themselves,  but  to  repel  force  by 
force.  That  such  was  the  fact  appears  from  the 
official  proceedings  of  the  Council  of  the  State. 
On  hearing  of  the  affair  of  the  20th,  in  which 
two  of  the  inhabitants  had  been  wantonly  mur- 
dered, the  Council  forthwith  appointed  a  com- 
mission with  instructions  to  proceed  to  Wyo- 
ming, and  restore  peace  by  disarming  both  par- 
ties.    And  it  happened  to  be  the  approach  of  the 


336  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

commissioners  under  this  resolution,  that  caused 
the  raising  of  the  siege  of  Fort  Dickinson.  They 
arrived  on  the  29th,  and  on  the  following  day  a 
conference  was  held  between  both  parties,  but 
without  any  reconciliation  being  effected.  The 
commissioners*  next  made  a  demand,  under  the 
authority  of  the  State,  for  the  mutual  surrender  of 
the  arms  of  the  parties,  and  also  of  a  suitable  num- 
ber of  persons  as  hostages,  for  the  preservation  of 
the  peace. 

But  neither  persuasion  nor  demand  produced 
the  slightest  effect  upon  either  party.  The  truth 
was,  both  had  heard  that  after  the  arrival  of  the 
express  in  Philadelphia,  announcing  the  beleaguer- 
ment  of  the  fort  by  the  people,  the  Council  of  State 
had]directed  the  Lieutenant  of  the  county  of^North- 
ampton  to  call  forth  a  body  of  three  hundred  in- 
fantry, with  a  squadron  of  dragoons,  to  march  for 
the  subjugation  of  the  people  of  Wyoming.  A 
simultaneous  order  was  also  given  to  the  Sheriff 
of  Northumberland  to  proceed  with  the  power  of 
his  county,  to  the  aid  of  the  liieutenant  of  North- 
ampton. On  the  same  day,  viz :  the  29th  of  July, 
the  Honorable  John  Boyd  and  Colonel  John  Arm- 
strong were  appointed  commissioners  for  concerting 
and  executing  such  measures  as  they  should  judge 
necessary    for   establishing  the   peace  and    good 

•  Chapmnn  is  the  nnthority  for  these  dctnils.    The  commissioners  were 
Thomas  Hewitt,  David  Mead,  and  Robert  Martin. 


tt  I  STORY    OF    WYOMING.  337 

order  of  the  disaffected  district.  Under  these 
circumstances,  neither  party  would  listen  to  the 
proposition  for  disarming.  The  Pennamites  * 
counted  upon  adequate  military  support,  while  the 
Yankees  were  not  disposed  to  surrender  their  arms, 
at  a  moment  when  a  larger  military  force  than 
ajiy  they  had  yet  encountered  was  marching  for 
their  subjugation* 

Colonel  Armstrong  proceeded  to  Easton  on  the 
1st  of  August,  where  his  forces  were  already  col- 
lecting. On  the  3d  he  advanced  to  the  eastern 
verge  of  the  Pokono  mountain.  He  had,  how- 
ever, previously  detached  Colonel  Moore,  with  a 
party  of  volunteers,  to  a  station  called  Locust  Hill, 
about  midway  of  the  mountains,  which  the  Major 
was  directed  to  hold  for  the  purpose  of  keeping 
the  passage  clear.  Hearing  of  this  advance  of 
Moore,  the  people  of  Wyoming  sent  forward  a 
company  under  the  command  of  Captain  Sw^ift, 
to  meet  and  repel  him.  This  enterprise  was  ex- 
ecuted with  fidelity.  Swift  took  the  party  of 
Moore  by  surprise  early  in  the  morning  of  the 
2d  of  August,  and  after  a  brisk  attack  upon  the 
log-house  in  which  they  were  sheltered,  Moore 
retreated  with  the  loss  of  one  man  killed,  and  sev- 
eral wounded.     Swift  thereupon  returned  to  Wy- 

*  Pennamites  was  the  name  given  the  Pennsylvanians  by  the  Connecticut 
settlers,  who  in  tarn  were  designated  as  Yankees,— Intruders,— Insurgents 
&c.    Those  civi!  broils  are  still  called  the  Pennamite  wars  in  Wyoming. 

30 


338  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING, 

oming,  where  Colonel  Armstrong  soon  appearec^ 
at  the  head,  all  told,  of  about  four  hundred  men,, 
including  Patterson's  troops,  and  a  few  railita-men; 
from  Northumberland, 

The  armed  forces  of  the  people  were  so  strongly 
entrenched  in  Fort  Forty,  that  Armstrong  dared 
not  hazard  an  attack.  He  therefore  had  recourse 
to  stratagem.  A  plausible  manifesto  was  issued, 
declaring  that  he  had  come  merely  for  the  dispen- 
sation of  justice,  and  the  pacification  of  the  vaHey^ 
His  object  was  the  protection  of  the  peaceable  in- 
habitants, to  which  end  it  was  necessary  that  both 
parties  should  be  disarmed.  For  a  time  his  pro- 
fessions were  distrusted  by  the  people  ;  but  ulti- 
mately the  earnestness  and  apparent  sincerity  of 
his  protestations  overcame  their  scruples^  and 
numbers  of  them  repaired  to  Fort  Dickinson,  to 
comply  with  his  terms,  and  also  to  make  reclama- 
tion of  the  property  of  which  they  had  been  plun- 
dered. But  they  had  ample  cause  to  lament  their 
credulity,  being  arrested  by  scores,  pinioned  with 
strong  cords,  and  marched  off  in  pairs,  strongly 
guarded,  to  the  prisons  of  Easton  and  Sunbury. 
Forty-two  were  sent  to  the  latter  prison,  ten  of 
whom,  however,  escaped  on  the  morning  after 
their  arrival.  In  both  prisons  they  were  treated 
with  inhumanity  ;  but  the  imprisonment  at  Eas- 
ton was  of  short  duration.  On  the  qiorning  of 
September  17th,  as  the  jailor  was  conveying  their 


HISTORY  OF  wyoMjNa,  339 

breakfast  to  them,  he  was  knocked  down  by  a 
young  man  named  Inman,  and  the  whole  body 
made  their  escape. 

On  the  departure  of  the  prisoners,  Armstrong 
had  discharged  the  principal  part  of  his  forces,  and 
made  preparations  with  the  residue  to  gather  the 
crops  planted  to  his  hands  by  those  whom  he  had 
dispossessed.  But  his  army  had  been  prematurely 
disbanded.  With  the  return  of  the  self-liberated 
prisoners,  the  residue  of  the  inhabitants  took  arms, 
and  being  strengthened  by  a  body  of  emigrants 
from  Vermont,  Fort  Forty  was  again  occupied, 
and  dispositions  promptly  made  to  protect  what 
remained  unharvested  6f  their  crops.  On  the 
20th  of  September,  a  party  of  Armstrong's  men, 
engaged  in  harvesting  grain  that  did  not  belong 
to  them,  were  attacked  and  driven  into  Fort  Dick- 
inson. A  strong  detachment  was  immediately 
despatched  in  pursuit  of  the  "  Insurgents,"  as 
Armstrong  now  called  the  people  in  arms  ;  but 
the  latter  took  refuge  in  a  log-house,  which  they 
defended  with  such  spirit  as  to  repulse  their  as- 
sailants, who  bore  away,  as  their  only  trophies, 
two  wounded  men. 

The  people  were  suffering  greatly  by  reason 
of  the  surrender  of  their  fire  arms  ;  and  hearing 
that  Colonel  Armstrong  had  sent  to  Philadelphia 
for  reinforcements,  they  resolved  to  make  an  effort 
for  the  recovery  of  those  arms,  before  any  more 


340  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

troops  should  arrive.  Having  ascertained  the  par- 
ticular block-house  in  which  the  arms  were  de- 
posited, they  made  an  attack  on  the  night  of  the 
25th,  but  were  repulsed.  On  the  following  day 
Colonel  Armstrong  proceeded  to  Philadelphia ; 
and  on  the  next,  the  block-house  was  carried  by 
the  people  under  John  Franklin,  two  of  the  Pen- 
namite  magistrates.  Reed  and  Henderson,  mortally 
wounded,  and  the  arms  recovered.  A  full  state- 
ment of  the  transaction  was  forwarded  to  the  gov- 
ernment by  Franklin,  acting  for  the  people,  in 
which  it  was  declared  that  they  had  not  been 
prompted  by  any  disposition  to  disregard  the 
laws,  but  only  to  be  avenged  upon  Patterson  and 
Armstrong  for  their  treachery.^ 

Another  military  expedition  against  the  "insur- 
gents ''  was  immediately  determined  upon  by  the 
Council,  to  consist  of  two  companies  of  fifty  men 
each.  The  command  was  again  entrusted  to 
Colonel  Armstrong,  who  was  simultaneously  pro^ 
moted  to  the  office  of  Adjutant  General  of  the 
State.  The  President,  Mr.  Dickinson,  made  a 
strong  remonstrance  against  this  proceeding,  in 
writing ;  but  the  Council  was  Resolutely  bent  upon 
perseverence.f     The  people  of  the  state,  however, 

♦  Chapman. 

t  Pennsylvania,  at  that  time,  had  no  officer  bearing  the  title  or  governor. 
Under  its  first  independent  state  constitution,  the  government  of  the  com- 
monwealth was  vested  in  a  House  of  Representatives,  a  President,  and  a 
Council.    T^icrc  y(aa  o^so  a,Dotlier  bi;ancb  of  the  ^ovcromcm  iusUtuted  ^^ 


HISTORY    or    WTOMING.  341 

were  by  this  time  becoming  weary  of  the  contest. 
Nor  was  this  all:  they  were  beginning  to  look 
upon  the  settlers  of  Wyoming  as  the  persecuted 
party,  and  their  sympathies  were  kindling  in  their 
favor.  With  all  his  efforts,  therefore,  the  new 
Adjutant  General  wa«  enabled  to  raise  only  forty 
men,  at  the  liead  of  whom  he  reappeared  in  the 
valley  on  the  16th  of  October.  Fort  Forty  was 
immediately  garrisoned  by  seventy  men,  under  Mr. 
Franklin.  These  Armstrong  did  not  feel  strong 
enough  to  attack,  and  he  called  loudly  upon  the 
counties  of  Northampton,  Berks,  and  Bucks,  for 
assistance;  but  in  vain.  Neither  the  Council,  nor 
the  leaders  of  the  Pennsylvania  claimants,  could 
induce  a  single  recruit  more  to  engage  in  a  service 
jrow  becoming  not  unpopular  merely,  but  odious. 
Meantime  the  period  for  the  septennial  meeting 
t)f  the  Council  of  Censors  had  arrired,  and  the  feel- 
ings of  that  body  had  become  warmly  enlisted  in 
regard  to  the  Wyoming  proceedings.  Having 
cognizance  of  the  case,  the  Council  called  upon 
the  General  Assembly  for  the  papers  and  docu- 
ments connected  with  the  controversy.  The  As- 
sembly disregarded  the  call,  aad  a  mandamus  was 

that  constitution.,  called  a  Board  of  Censors,  chosen  by  the  people,  and  di- 
rected to  meet  once  in  seven  years,  to  intiufre  wii&ther  the  constitution  had 
in  the  meantime  been  violated;  whetiier  Ihe  legislative  and  executive 
branches  had  performed  their  duties  faithfully  ;  vv^hether  the  laws  had  been 
dirly  and  equally  executed,  &c.  &;c.  'I  hey  could  also  try  impeachments, 
and  recommend  the  repeal  of  unwholesome  laws,  &c. 

30* 


342  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING, 

issued,  which  was  received  and  treated  with  per- 
fect contempt.  Finding  their  authority  thus  con- 
temned and  utterly  disregarded,  the  Council  openly 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  Connecticut  settlers,  and 
passed  a  public  censure  upon  the  government  of 
the  state,  couched  in  strong  language,  for  its  con- 
duct toward  those  people  —  not  indeed  sanctioning 
the  claim  of  the  latter  to  the  soil,  but  condemning 
all  the  military  and  pretended  civil  proceedings  that 
had  been  adopted  against  them  —  especially  for  the 
reason,  that,  after  becoming  subjects  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, the  settlers  had  not  been  left  to  prosecute  their 
claims  in  the  proper  course,  without  the  interven- 
tion of  the  legislature. 

The  stand  thus  taken  by  the  Censors  strength- 
ened the  hands  of  the  colonists,  and  also  those  of 
their  friends  in  other  parts  of  the  state.  The  dec- 
laration of  the  Censors  also  furnished  a  reasonable 
excuse  to  the  people  to  disobey  alike  the  orders  of 
the  Council  of  State,  and  of  Colonel  Armstrong. 
Not  another  recruit,  therefore,  could  be  obtained ; 
and  Armstromg  found  himself  shut  up  in  a  block- 
house with  a  force  too  weak  for  offensive  action,  or 
even  to  forage  for  supplies.  But  the  people  them- 
selves, even  had  they  not  been  annoyed  by  the 
presence  of  the  soldiery,  were  in  a  deplorable  con- 
dition. All  their  movable  possessions  had  been 
swept  away  by  the  flood  in  March,  and  the  labors 
of  the  spring  and  summer  had  been  subjected  to 


HISTORY    OV    WYOMING.  343 

such  incessant  interruptions,  while  a  large  portion 
of  their  corps  had  been  taken  to  glut  the  rapacity 
of  their  enemies,  that  they  looked  forward  to  the 
approaching  winter  with  gloomy  forebodings. 
They  again  petitioned  Congress,  and  likewise 
made  an  affecting  appeal  for  the  friendly  interpo- 
sition of  the  Legislature  of  Connecticut.  In  this 
latter  appeal  they  stated  "that  their  numbers 
were  reduced  to  about  two  thousand  souls,  most 
of  whom  were  women  and  children,  driven,  in 
many  cases,  from  their  proper  habitations,  and 
living  in  huts  of  bark  in  the  woods,  without  pro- 
visions for  the  approaching  winter,  while  the 
Pennsylvania  troops  and  land-claimants  were  in 
possession  of  their  houses  and  farms,  and  wasting 
and  destroying  their  cattle  and  subsistence."  The 
legislature  of  Connecticut,  acknowledging  their 
want  of  jurisdiction,  could  only  express  their  sym- 
pathy, and  promise  the  exertion  of  their  friendly 
offices  in  behalf  of  the  memorialists,  both  with 
Congress  and  the  government  of  Pennsylvania. 
Happily,  however,  the  settlers  were  speedily  rehev- 
ed  from  the  presence  of  the  mihtary,  and  that  by 
no  father  effort  of  their  own.  As  winter  approach- 
ed, finding  that  he  could  obtain  neither  recruits 
nor  supplies,  Colonel  Armstrong  discharged  his 
troops,  and  returned  to  Philadelphia.* 

♦  Colonel  Armstrong,  author  of  the  celebrated  Newburgh  Letters,  so 
fraught  with  danger  on  the  disbanding  of  the  army  at  the  close  of  the  war 


344  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

But  although  this  was  the  last  military  demon- 
stration of  Pennsylvania  against  Wyoming,  the 
controversy  was  not  yet  ended.  The  people,  it  is 
true,  were  left  to  the  quiet  pursuit  of  their  labors 
during  the  two  succeeding  years ;  still,  the  question 
of  their  land  titles  was  unadjusted,  and  they  knew 
not  how  soon  farther  attempts  might  be  made  to 
dispossess  them.  There  was  indeed  a  kindlier 
feeling  arising  mutually  between  the  parties  ;  but 
every  effort  of  the  people  to  obtain  a  tribunal  be- 
fore which  their  title  question  should  be  submitted 
for  a  final  decision,  during  these  two  years,  was 
nevertheless  unavailing.  The  population,  howev- 
er, continued  to  increase  rapidly,  not  only  in  their 
own  valley,  but  also  above,  below  and  around  it ; 
and  in  the  autumn  of  1786,  tJie  legislature,  on  the 
petition  of  the  people  of  Wyoming,  and  the  region 
north  of  it,  to  whom  it  was  a  great  inconvenience 
to  attend  the  court  sixty  and  a  hundred  miles  dis- 
tant, at  Sunbury,  formed  their  territory  into  a  new 
county,  named  "  Luzerne,"  in  honor  of  the  Chev- 
alier De  La  Luzerne,  who  had  just  at  that  period 
returned  to  France  from  his  embassy  to  the  United 
States.  Indeed  the  indications,  upon  both  sides, 
rendered  it  obvious  that  a  compromise  was  desired 
by  each- 

of  the  revolution,  and  afterward  distinguished  in  the  political  and  litcrarjr 
history  of  the  country.  He  was  tlkj  eon  of  General  John  Arm.strong  of 
Pennsylvania,  distinguished  in  the  earlier  Indian  wars, and  soiucXimes 
called  ''the  hero  of  Kittinuing."  The  subject  of  the  present  note  died 
eaily  in  the  year  1843,  at  Lis  seat  in  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  345 

It  happened  at  about  the  same  period  that  Colonel 
Timothy  Pickering,  of  Massachusetts,  but  at  that 
time  a  resident  of  Pennsylvania,  made  a  journey 
through  Wyoming,  to  visit  a  tract  of  land  in  which 
he  was  interested,  in  and  about  the  Great  Bend 
of  the  Susquehanna,  near  the  New-York  line. 
While  in  Wyoming,  Colonel  Pickering  embraced 
every  opportunity  to  learn  the  feelings  of  the  peo- 
ple in  regard  to  the  protracted  dispute,  and  to  as- 
certain the  terras  upon  which  their  peaceable  sub- 
mission to  Pennsylvania  might  be  effected.  Being 
convinced  that  the  settlers  were  entirely  satisfied 
with  the  constitution  of  the  state,  and  were  willing 
to  submit  to  its  government,  provided  they  could 
be  quieted  in  the  possession  of  their  farms,  on 
his  return  to  Philadelphia  he'  reported  the  result 
of  his  inquiries  and  convictions  to  several  distin- 
guished gentlemen,  among  whom  were  Doctor 
Rush,  and  Mr.  Wilson,  an  eminent  lawyer,  and 
afterward  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  The  idea  was  then  suggested  to 
the  minds  of  the  Pennsylvanians,  that  being  a  New 
England  man,  of  high  character,  the  services  of 
Colonel  Pickering  might  be  of  great  importance 
in  effecting  an  arrangement  between  the  parties. 
The  subject  was  proposed  to  Mr.  Pickering  by  Dr, 
Rush,  with  the  proffer  of  an  appointment  to  the 
five  principal  county  offices,  if  he  would  remove 
to  Wyoming  with  a  view  of  exerting  himself  to 


346  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

put  an  end  to  the  inveterate  and  disastrous  con- 
troversy. After  taking  time  for  consideration,  the 
proposition  was  accepted  upon  the  basis  already 
indicated, — viz  :  that  he  might  assure  the  Con- 
necticut settlers  that  the  Pennsylvania  legislature 
would  pass  a  law  quieting  them  in  their  posses- 
sions. With  this  understanding.  Colonel  Picker- 
ing took  the  offices,  and  clothed  with  the  neces- 
sary power  by  the  legislature,  to  hold  elections 
and  organize  the  county,  proceeded  to  Wyoming 
in  January,  1787.  After  spending  a  full  month  in 
visiting  the  people,  the  Colonel  succeeded  in  per- 
suading them  to  apply  to  the  legislature  for  a  com- 
promise law,  upon  the  principle  heretofore  sug- 
gested. His  object,  however,  had*well  nigh  been 
defeated,  at  one  of  the  preliminary  meetings,  by  a 
suggestion  from  Major  John  Jenkins, — known  to 
the  reader  in  a  former  chapter  as  Lieutenant  Jen- 
kins,— who  rose  and  remarked  that  they  had  too 
often  experienced  the  bad  faith  of  Pennsylvania, 
to  place  confidence  in  any  new  measure  of  its  leg- 
islature ;  and  that  if  they  were  to  enact  a  quieting 
law,  they  would  repeal  it  as  soon  as  the  Connect- 
icut settlers  submitted  and  were  completely  sad- 
dled with  the  laws  of  the  state.  Colonel  Picker- 
ing, not  anticipating  any  such  act  of  Punic  faith, 
repelled  the  suggestion  with  great  earnestness,  and 
at  length  succeeded  in  procuring  the  application. 
The  proposition  of  the  memorial  was,  that  in  case 


litSTOllY   01*    WtOMINGi.  S4't 

the  commonwealth  would  grant  them  the  seventeeii 
townships  which  had  been  laid  out,  and  in  which 
settlements  had  been  commenced  previous  to  the 
decree  of  Trenton,  they  would  on  their  part  re- 
linquish all  their  claims  to  any  other  lands  within 
the  limits  of  the  Susquehanna  purchase.*  The 
towns  were  represented  to  be  as  nearly  square  as 
circumstances  would  permit,  and  to  be  about  five 
miles  on  a  side,  and  severally  divided  into  lots  of 
three  hundred  acres  each.  Some  of  these  lots 
were  set  apart  as  glebes,  some  for  schools,  and 
others  for  various  town  purposes,  &c. 

Colonel  Pickering  proceeded  to  Philadelphia 
with  the  memorial,  and  aided,  by  his  advice  and 
counsel,  the  passage  of  the  law.  The  case  was 
environed  with  difficulties,  not  the  least  of  which 
was  the  fact  that  many  of  the  best  lands,  occupied 
by  the  Connecticut  claimants,  had  likewise  been 
granted  by  the  Government  of  Pennsylvania  to  its 
own  citizens.  It  was  of  course  necessary  that 
these  claims  should  be  quieted  likewise.  But  as 
the  state  had  three  years  before  extinguished  the 
Indian  title  to  several  millions  of  acres  of  land, 
there  was  no-  lack  of  means  for  making  new  grants 
to   those   who  might    suffer  in   the   arrangement 

*  Chapman.  These  townships  were,  Salem,  Newport,  Hanover,  vVilkes- 
harr^,  Pittston,  Westmor  Mai. d,  Putnam,  Braintree,  Springfield,  Claver- 
ack,  Ulster,  Exeter,  Kingston,  Plymouth,  Bedford,  Huntington,  and 
rrovidence. 


348  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

with  the  Connecticut  settlers.  Be  that  as  it  might, 
the  difficulties  were  surmounted  ;  a  law,  which  it 
was  supposed  would  answer  every  purpose  intend- 
ed, was  passed  ;  under  which  commissioners  were 
appointed  to  examine  the  claims  on  both  sides  ;* 
those  of  the  Connecticut  settlers  to  ascertain  who 
were  entitled  to  hold  by  the  terms  of  the  law  ; 
those  of  the  Pennsylvanians,  to  ascertain  the  qual- 
ity, and  appraise  the  value  of  each  tract. 

The  commissioners  met  in  Wyoming  in  May, 
and  made  their  arrangements  preliminary  to  a  for- 
mal examination  and  adjustment  of  such  claims  as 
might  be  presented  to  them  at  another  session,  to 
be  held  in  August  and  September.  The  law  gave 
general  satisfaction  to  the  people  within  the  sev- 
enteen townships  embraced  in  its  provisions ;  and 
the  commissioners  entered  upon  their  labors,  at 
the  time  appointed,  with  a  fair  prospect  of  com- 
pleting the  work  within  a  reasonable  time.  But 
fresh  difficulties  arose  in  another  quarter.  The 
Connecticut  settlements  had  been  extended,  in 
several  directions,  considerably  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  towns  designated,  and  the  people  of  those 
settlements  were  greatly  dissatisfied  because  they 
were  not  included  in  the  arrangement.  It  is  be- 
lieved, moreover,  that  pending  the  negotiations  for 
the  compromise,  the  Susquehanna  Company  ha({ 

*  The  commissioners  were  Timothy  Pickering,  William  Montgomery, 
and  Stephen  Balliott. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 


349 


been  exerting  themselves  to  pour  as  many  settlers 
into  those  unincluded  districts  as  possible.  Colo- 
nel Pickering  asserts  positively,  that  "  they  invited 
and  encouraged  emigrations  from  the  States  «ast* 
ward  of  Penns}  Ivaiiia,  of  all  men  destitute  of  prop^ 
erty,  who  could  be  tempted  by  the  gratuitous  offer 
of  lands,  on  the  single  condition  that  they  should 
enter  upon  them  armed,  '  to  man  their  rights/ 
according  to  the  cant  phrase  of  the  day.  By  this 
arrangement  the  Company  hoped  to  pour  in  such 
a  mass  of  young  and  able-bodied  men  as  would 
appear  formidable  to  the  Pennsylvania  government, 
to  subdue  and  expel  whom  would  require  a  consid- 
erable military  force,  to  be  raised  and  maintained 
at  a  heavy  expense  of  treasure,  and  perhaps  of 
blood  ;"  to  avoid  which  evils  they  hoped  that 
Pennsylvania  would  ultimately  be  brought  to  their 
own  terms.  John  Franklin  had  exerted  himself, 
beyond  doubt,  for  that  object ;  and  he  now  became 
the  leader  of  a  new  party,  determined  to  defeat 
the  execution  of  the  law.  He  was  a  man  of  activ- 
ity, shrewdness,  and  great  energy  and  influence ; 
and  by  visiting  the  people  of  the  settlements,  he 
soon  stirred  up  a  commotion  tjiat  compelled  the 
commissioners  to  tlee  from  the  country  for  safety. 
Evidence  of  his  practices  having  been  communica- 
ted to  Chief  Justice  M'Kean,  his  warrant  was  issued 
for  the  arrest  of  Franklin  on  a  charge  of  treason. 
It  was  not  judged  advisable  to  direct  the  sheriff  of 
31 


350  HISTORY    or    WYOMING. 

Luzerne,  who  had  just  been  elected,  and  whose 
residence  was  among  the  turbulent  men  under  the 
influence  of  Franklin,  to  serve  the  writ,  and  it  was 
therefore  directed  to  four  gentlemen  of  known 
fortitude,  two  of  whom  had  served  in  the  army  of 
the  revolution.  Franklin  was  at  the  time  absent 
on  an  incendiary  mission,  thirty-five  miles  farther 
down  the  valley.  On  his  return,  every  necessary 
preparation  having  been  made  for  his  safe  conduct 
to  Philadelphia,  he  was  arrested.  He  resisted  the 
special  officers,  however,  to  the  utmost,  and  would 
unquestionably  have  effected  his  escape,  or  been 
rescued,  —  for  the  people  were  already  assembling 
with  that  design,  —  had  it  not  been  for  the  exer- 
tions and  the  courage  of  Colonel  Pickering.  Ob- 
serving the  commotion  from  the  window,  he  rushed 
out  with  a  pair  of  loaded  pistols,  and  caused 
Franklin  to  be  secured  by  cords,  and  bound  upon 
the  horse  prepared  for  his  journey.  He  was  then 
conducted  off,  and  taken  in  safety  to  Philadelphia, 
and  thrown  into  prison. 

Colonel  Pickering  always  avowed  that  he  should 
not  havo  interfered  in  the  case  but  for  the  convic- 
tion that  the  welfare  of  the  people  and  the  public 
peace  depended  upon  securing  the  person  of  that 
daring  man.  Deeply,  however,  did  he  incur  the 
resentment  of  Franklin's  partizans.  Their  leader 
had  scarcely  disappeared  in  the  direction  of  Phil- 
adelphia, before  symptoms  were  discovered  that 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  351 

vengeance  was  to  be  wreaked  upon  the  head  of 
Colonel  Pickering,  and  he  was  admonished  by  his 
friendly  neighbors  that  it  would  be  wise  for  him 
to  leave  his  domicil  for  a  short  period,  until  their 
passions  had  time  to  cool.  He  listened  to  the 
admonition,  just  in  time  to  secrete  himself  in  a 
neighboring  wood  before  "  the  Philistines  were 
upon  him."  Returning  to  his  family  in  the  even- 
ing, some  of  his  neighbors  assembled  in  arms  for 
his  protection  ;  but  before  he  had  finished  his  sup- 
per, tidings  came  that  Franklin's  men  were  em- 
bodying in  arms  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river, 
and  were  even  then  preparing  to  cross  over  and 
attack  him.  Taking  a  loaded  pistol  with  him,  and 
a  few  small  biscuits,  the  Colonel  retired  to  a  neigh- 
boring field,  and  was  soon  apprised  by  the  yells  of 
the  insurgents  that  he  had  not  eflfected  his  escape 
a  moment  too  soon.  The  noise  subsiding,  he 
correctly  judged  that  the  neighbors  who  had  arm- 
ed for  his  defence,  and  had  fastened  the  house, 
had  been  compelled  to  surrender.  Such  proved 
to  be  the  fact,  and  the  insurgents  made  a  thorough 
search  of  the  house  in  the  hope  of  finding  the  ob- 
ject of  their  vengeance.  Having  been  joined  by 
Mr.  Evan  Griffith,  Secretary  of  the  Commissioners, 
and  an  inmate  of  Colonel  Pickering's  house,  the 
two  retired  to  the  mountains,  where  they  passed 
the  night.  Through  a  German  friend  occupying 
one  of  his  farms,  the  Colonel  was  enabled  on  tho 


352^  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

following  day  to  communicate  with  his  family. 
Ascertaining  in  this  way  that  it  would  be  unsafe 
for  him  to  return^  and  that  the  search  for  him  was 
yet  continued,  Colonel  Pickering  determined  to 
make  his  way  to  Philadelphia,  and  from  the  dis- 
tance watch  the  course  of  events.  It  was  near 
the  middle  of  October.  He  was  without  provis- 
ions, and  thinly  clad  ;  but  no  time  was  to  be  lost, 
and  he  was  compelled  to  direct  his  course  through 
the  deep  forests  and  over  the  mountains  heretofore 
described.  There  was,  indeed,  an  indifferent  road 
leading  in  the  proper  direction  ;  but  by  attempting 
to  travel  upon  this,  he  had  well  nigh  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  a  party  of  insurgents  who  were  on 
the  watch  to  intercept  his  flight.  Yet,  after  a  se- 
vere journey,  the  Colonel  arrived  in  safety  at  Phil- 
adelphia, about  a  month  after  the  convention  that 
formed  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  had 
adjourned. 

Franklin  had  arrived  there  befare  him,  and  was 
in  jail.  Deprived  of  his  counsel  and  leadership, 
his  insurgent  partizans,  reflecting  upon  the  rash- 
ness of  their  conduct,  and  also  upon  its  illegality, 
began  to  relent,  and  sent  a  petition  to  the  Council, 
acknowledging  their  ofience,  and  praying  for  a  par- 
don. This  was  readily  granted,  and  conveyed  to 
them  by  Colonel  Dennison,  member  of  the  Council 
from  Luzerne.  Colonel  Pickering  now  supposed 
of  course  that  he  could  join  his  family  in  safety  ; 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING  353 

but  having  arrived  vi^ithin  twenty-five  miles  c^ 
Wyoming,  a  messenger  whom  he  had  despatched 
in  advance,  to  ascertain  the  popular  feehng,  met 
him  with  a  message  from  his  friends  that  it  would 
yet  be  unsafe  for  him  to  come  into  the  valley. 
Upon  the  receipt  of  these  advices,  he  returned  to 
Philadelphia,  where  he  remained  until  January. 
Meantime  a  state  convention  had  been  called  to 
deliberate  upon  the  draft  of  a  constitution  submit- 
ted to  the  people  of  the  United  States  by  the  na- 
tional convention  on  the  17  th  of  September, — to 
which  state  convention  Colonel  Pickering  was 
chosen  a  delegate  by  the  people  of  that  very  county 
from  which  he  was  kept  in  banishment !  What  a 
striking  illustration  does  this  fact  present,  of  the 
inconsistencies  into  which  the  people  may  be  hur- 
ried by  passion  and  caprice  !  They  would  select 
Coloiiel  Pickering,  of  all  others,  to  sit  in  judgment 
upon  an  instrument,  which,  if  adopted,  was  to  be- 
come the  grand  regulating  machine  of  their  politi- 
cal and  religious  priiiciples,^ — the  charter  of  their 
liberty,  and  that  of  their  posterity,  in  all  time  to 
come, — while  they  would  not  trust  the  same  in- 
dividual to  decide  for  them  in  the  matter  of  a 
contested  title  to  a  few  hundred  dollars  worth  of 
land  ! 

Having  attended  to  his  duties  in  the   conven- 
tion. Colonel  Pickering  presented  himself  among 
Ms  constituents  in  January,  17 83.     FrankUn  yet 
3JL* 


354  HISTORY    OF    WYO^nNG; 

remained  in  prison.  Next  to  his  confinement,  the 
out-and-out  opponents  of  the  compromise  law 
deemed  the  presence  of  Colonel  Pickering  within 
the  disputed  territory,  as  working  the  greatest 
detriment  to  their  schemes.  There  were  various 
indications,  therefore,  for  several  weeks,  that  a  con- 
spiracy was  on  foot  to  drive  him  from  the  county. 
Indeed  it  wa«  menacingly  intimated  to  him  by 
Major  Jenkins,  in  the  month  of  April,  that  such 
was  the  fact.  But  the  Colonel  was  neither  dis- 
posed to  relinquish  the-  cause  of  pacification  in 
which  he  had  engaged',  nor  to  abandon  his  farms 
and  improvements.  He  therefore  pursued  his  oc- 
cupations as  usual,  until  the  night  of  the  26th  of 
June,  when  he  was  awakened  from  his  sleep  by  a 
violent  opening  of  the  door  of  his  apartment. — 
"  Who  is  there  ?"  he  demanded.  "  Get  up,"  was 
the  answer.  ''  Don't  strike,"  said  Colonel  Picker- 
ing ;  "  I  have  an  infant  on  my  arm."  Then  roIK 
ing  the  child  from  his  arm,  the  Colonel  arose  and 
dressed,  while  Mrs.  Pickering  slipped  out  of  bed 
on  the  other  side,  and  throwing  on  a  few  clothes 
groped  her  way  to  the  kitchen  for  a  light,  on  re- 
turning with  which  they  saw  the  room  filled  with 
men  armed  with  guns  and  hatchets,  with  black- 
ened faces,  and  handkerchiefs  tied  around  their 
heads.  Their  first  act  was  to  pinion  the  Colonel 
by  tying  his  arms  across  his  back  with  a  strong 
cord, — long  enough  for  one  of  the  party  to  hold 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMIITG.  35S' 

in  order  to  prevent  an  escape, — having  in  the 
course  of  their  proceedings  admonished  Mrs.  Pick- 
ering that  they  would  tomahawk  her  if  she  made 
any  noise.  Having  thus  secured  his  person,  they 
advised  him  to  take  a  blanket,  or  a  thick  outer 
garment  with  him,  as  he  would  be  a  long  time  in 
a  situation  to  need  it.  Mrs.  Pickering  thereupon 
handed  the  Colonel  his  surtout,  and  they  depart- 
ed with  their  captive.  It  appeared  that  there 
were  fifteen  of  the  ruffians.  Not  a  word  more 
than  was  necessary  was  spoken,  and  their  march 
in-  the  darkness  and  stillness  of  the  night  was 
along  the  valley  north  to  Pittstown,  ten  miles, 
where  they  halted  at  a  tavern  for  a  few  minutes. 
After  refreshing  themselves  with  whiskey, — not 
omitting  to  offer  some  to  their  captive,  which  was 
declined, — they  pursued  their  journey,  while  it 
was  yet  dark  as  Erebus.  They  had  not  proceed- 
ed far  from  the  tavern,  before  one  of  the  ruffians 
marching  by  the  Colonel's  &ide  broke  silence  by 
saying : — 

"  Now,  if  you  will  only  write  two  or  three  lines 
to  the  Executive  Council,  they  will  discharge  Co- 
lonel Frankhn,  and  we  will'  release  you." 

The  object  of  the  abduction  was  at  once  dis- 
closed. But  the  ruffians  had  mistaken  their  man^ 
The  instant  reply  of  the  Colonel  was, — 

'^^  The  Executive  Council  better  understand  their 


356  HISTOBY    OF     WYOMING. 

duty  than  to  discharge  a  traitor  to  procure  the  re- 
lease of  an  innocent  man  J' 

"Damn  him!"  exclaimed  one  of  the  party, 
marching  as  a  guard  in  the  rear,  whose  wrath  had 
Ixeen  excited  by  the  application  of  the  epithet 
"  traitor  "  to  Franklin,  "  why  don't  you  tomahawk 
him  ?'" 

Their  march  was  then  continued  in  the  same 
sullen  silence  as  before.  Bad  as  they  were,  how- 
ever, these  misguided  men  were  not  altogether 
destitute  of  civility,  or  kind  feehngs.  On  their 
arrival  at  the  Lackawannock  river,  finding  the 
water  so  low  that  the  canoe  grounded  in  crossing 
it,  one  of  the  party  waded  to  the  shore,  and  divest- 
ing himself  of  his  pack,  returned  and  carried  the 
Colonel  over  on  his  back. 

In  the  course  of  the  morning  they  crossed  to  the 
west  side  of  the  Susquehanna,  by  a  ferry,  and  pur- 
sued their  journey  thirty  miles  from  Wilkesbarre, 
to  a  log-house,  near  the  river,  at  which  they  halted,, 
and  cooked  some  victuals,  of  which  they  all  made 
a  hearty  meal  —  it  being  the  first  food  they  had 
tasted  since  the  night  before.  Seeing  a  bed  in  the 
room,  Colonel  Pickering  lay  down  to  rest,  and 
found  himself  unpinioned  when  he  arose.  While 
he  was  on  the  bed,  and,  as  the  party  supposed,, 
asleep,  they  were  overtaken  by  a  man  from  Joseph's 
Plains,  two  miles  from  Wilkesbarre,  who  informed 
tiiem.  that  the  mihtia  had  turned  out,  and  were  Uk 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  351? 

pursuit.  The  insurgents  immediately  disturbed 
the  repose  of  their  prisoner,  and  retired  back  from 
the  river  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  encamping 
behind  a  hill  in  the  woods.  Here  they  remained! 
during  the  night,  encountering  a  severe  thunder- 
storm. In  the  morning,  finding  all  quiet  at  the 
river,  they  returned  to  the  house,  where  they^ 
obtained  breakfast.  At  about  ten  o'clock,  a  man 
was  descried  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river^ 
leading  his  horse,  at  which  one  of  the  party  ex- 
claimed—  "  There  goes  Major  Jenkins,  now, —  a 

d — d  stinking  son  of  a !"     It  was  obvious 

from  this  remark,  that  Jenkins  had  been  prompt- 
ing the  outrage,  but  with  more  cunning  than  bold- 
ness, had  avoided  any  direct  participation  in  its^^ 
execution.  He  was  indeed  at  that  time  leaving^ 
Wyoming  for  the  state  of  New- York,  where  he 
employed  himself  as  a  land  surveyor  until  tran- 
quility had  been  restored. 

Preparations  were  now  makmg  to  cross  to  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Susquehanna ;  and  as  the 
blacking  began  by  this  time  to  disappear  from  the 
faces  of  the  captors,  Colonel  Pickering  discerned 
among  the  party  two  sons  of  a  near  neighbor, 
named  Dudley  —^Gideon  and  Jacob.  These  were 
the  only  persons  of  the  gang  whom  he  knew. 
Before  entering  the  canoe,  one  of  them  attempted 
to  manacle  the  prisoner  with  a  pair  of  handcuffs, 
$§ain&t  which  he  remonstrated ;  and  at  the  intei;-^ 


358  HISTORY    OF    AVYOMING. 

position  of  a  man  named  Earl,  who  also  had  two 
sons  of  the  party,  the  Colonel  was  spared  that  in- 
convenience and  degradation.  Having  crossed 
the  river,  after  an  hour's  march,  the  leader  of  the 
party  despatched  all  but  four  of  his  men  upon  sep- 
arate duty.  With  these  four  to  guard  the  prison- 
er, the  leader  struck  off  directly  into  the  woods. 
The  Colonel's  apprehensions  were  somewhat  ex- 
cited by  this  movement — ^more  so  from  the  circum- 
stance that  he  had  heard  the  leader  described  as  a 
bold,  bad  man.  But  his  apprehensions  of  personal 
injury  were  groundless.  They  had  not  travelled 
more  than  an  hour  before  a  fawn  was  started, 
"  and  as  he  bounded  along,  this  leader,  who  was 
an  expert  hunter,  shot  him,  and  in  five  minutes 
he  had  his  skin  off,  and  the  carcass  slung  upon 
his  back."  At  the  distance  of  three  or  four  miles 
from  the  river,  on  arriving  at  a  brook  that  came 
dancing  across  their  course,  they  halted,  struck  a 
fire,  and  began  to  cook  some  of  their  venison. 
"  The  hunter  who  had  killed  it, — their  leader, — 
took  the  first  cut.  They  sharpened  small  sticks 
at  both  ends,  running  one  into  a  slice  of  the  fawn, 
and  setting  the  other  into  the  ground,  the  top  of 
the  stick  being  so  near  the  fire  as  to  broil  the 
flesh,"  Being  hungry,  the  Colonel  borrowed  one 
of  their  knives  and  began  cooking  for  himself. 
He  observed  that  the  hunter  was  tending  his  steak 
with  great  nicety, — sprinkling  it  with  salt, — and 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  359 

as  soon  as  it  was  done,  with  a  very  good  grace, 
he  presented  it  to  their  captive. 

They  erected  a  booth  with  branches  of  trees, 
and  remained  at  this  place  about  a  week — most 
of  the  time  upon  short  allowance  of  food,  and  that 
of  a  coarse  quality.  In  the  course  of  their  con- 
versations, they  had  informed  the  Colonel  that 
they  were  to  be  supported  by  a  body  of  four  hun- 
dred men.  He  assured  them  that  they  were  de- 
ceiving themselves,  and  that  they  would  be  sorry 
for  what  they  were  doing,  since,  so  far  from  being 
supported,  they  would  be  abandoned  to  their  fate. 
From  this  station  they  removed  to  another,  in  a 
narrow  sequestered  valley,  not  more  than  two  or 
three  miles  from  the  river.  Here  they  produced 
a  chain  five  or  six  feet  long,  having  at  one  end  a 
fetter  for  the  anckle.  They  said  they  were  re- 
luctant to  put  the  chain  upon  him,  but  Colonel 
Franklin  had  been  put  in  irons,  and  "  their  great 
men  required  it."  The  chain  was  then  made  fast 
to  the  prisoner's  leg,  and  the  other  end  fastened  to 
a  tree  by  a  staple.  Escape  was  now  impossible. 
Another  booth  was  erected,  and  when  they  lay 
down  for  the  night,  one  of  the  guards  wound  the 
chain  around  one  of  his  own  legs.  But  the  Colo- 
nel had  no  design  of  attempting  an  escape.  Sa- 
tisfied that  they  did  not  intend  to  take  his  fife,  he 
determined  in  his  own  mind  to  await  the  course 


360  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING, 

of  events  with  as  much  patience  as  he  could  com- 
mand. 

They  had  been  at  this  place  but  two  or  three 
days,  when,  one  morning,  before  his  guards  were 
awake,  the  Colonel  heard  a  brisk  firing,  as  of 
musketry,  in  the  direction  of  the  river.  But  of 
this  circumstance  he  said  nothing  to  his  keepers, 
not  doubting,  in  his  own  mind,  that  it  was  a  skir- 
mish between  the  insurgents  and  the  militia,  sent 
after  them,  and  for  his  rescue.  Such  proved  to 
be  the  fact.  After  breakfast  one  of  his  keepers 
went  down  to  a  house  in  their  interest  by  the 
river,  but  returned  in  haste,  to  inform  his  com- 
rades that  "the  boys,"  as  they  called  their  asso- 
ciates, had  met  the  militia,  and  that  Captain  Ross, 
who  commanded  the  latter,  was  mortally  wound- 
ed.'''' They  were  now  at  Black  Walnut  Bottom, 
forty-four  miles  above  Wilkesbarre.  During  the 
whole  time,  the  guards  of  Colonel  Pickering  were 
in  communication  with  their  comrades  in  the  vi- 


■*  Happily  this  statement  was  erroneous.  The  Captain  Ross  here  spoken 
of,  is  the  late  General  Ross  of  Wilkesbarr^.  "  A  company  of  about  fif- 
teen men  under  Captain  William  Ross  pursued  the  rioters,  but  as  they  had 
concealed  themselves  in  the  woods,  among  the  mountains  of  Mahoo{)ony, 
the  place  of  their  retreat  was  not  easily  ascertained,  particularly  as  their 
Tnovements  were  only  in  the  night ;  for  during  the  day  they  lay  concealed 
to  guard  their  prisoner,  who  was  kept  bound  to  a  tree.  About  the  dawn 
of  the  day,  Captain  Ross's  company  fell  in  with  a  company  of  the  rioters, 
aiear  the  mouth  of  Mesho|)pen  Creek,  and  a  skirmish  ensued  in  which 
Captain  Ross  was  wounded.  Colonel  flyers  and  Captain  Schotts  also 
proceeded  with  a  portion  of  the  militia,  in  pursuit  of  the  rioters.  A  sword 
was  afterward  presented  to  Captain  Ross,  by  the  Supreme  E.\ecutive  Coun- 
cil, for  his  gallantry  in  this  affair."— CAfl/>TOaa. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  361 

cinity ;  and  after  this  affair  with  Captain  Ross, 
they  were  evidently  becoming  more  uneasy  every 
houT%  They  changed  their  stations  several  times, 
and  again  crossed  to  the  west  side  of  the  river, 
under  cover  of  the  night.  On  the  15th  of  July, 
Gideon  Dudley,  who  seemed  to  have  become  the 
leader  of  the  party,  visited  the  station  where  Co- 
lonel Pickering  was  kept,  and  attempted  to  renew 
the  negotiation  for  his  influence  in  behalf  of 
Franklin.  But  the  Colonel  positively  refused  to 
purchase  his  own  hberty  in  that  manner.  He 
was  then  asked  by  Dudley  if  he  would  intercede 
for  their  pardon,  in  the  event  of  his  release.  He 
told  them  he  would  answer  no  questions  until 
they  knocked  off*  his  chain.  It  was  instantly 
taken  off.  The  Colonel  then  said  to  them,  that  in 
the  belief  that  they  had  been  deluded  and  de- 
ceived,— that  they  had  been  acting  in  obedience 
to  the  orders  of  those  whom  they  called  their 
*'  great  men,"-^»-he  would  exert  his  influence  for 
their  pardon,  if  they  would  give  him  their  names  ; 
adding,  that  he  entertained  no  doubt  of  being  able 
to  obtain  it.  The  demand  of  names  was  not  rea- 
dily assented  to,  causing  the  delay  of  a  day  in  the 
negotiation.  On  the  16th  they  removed  to  the 
house  of  a  man  named  Kilburne,  father  of  two  of 
the  party.  The  Colonel,  who  had  been  nineteen 
days  without  a  razor  for  his  beard,  or  a  change 
of  clothes,  was  here  provided  with  shaving  ap- 
32 


362  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

paratus  and  a  clean  shirt  and  stockings,  and  then 
informed  that  he  was  at  Uberty.  A  comfortable 
dinner  was  next  prepared,  after  which  "  the  boys" 
importunately  renewed  their  application  in  behalf 
of  Franklin.  This  request  was  again  peremptorily 
refused.  In  regard  to  themselves, — thirty-two 
of  the  party  being  then  present, — the  Colonel 
again  proffered  his  influence  in  their  behalf,  on 
condition  that  the  names  of  their  "  great  men" 
should  be  given  up.  But  after  a  side  consulta- 
tion they  rejected  the  terms,  declaring  that  the 
severest  punishment  in  the  world  to  come  ought 
to  be  meted  to  any  one  of  their  number  who 
should  betray  them. 

Their  last  request  to  Colonel  Pickering  was, 
that  he  would  write  a  petition  for  them  to  the  Ex- 
ecutive Council,  and  be  the  bearer  of  it  himself  to 
Wilkesbarre,  whence  he  might  forward  it  for  them 
to  Philadelphia.  To  this  request  he  assented ; 
and  forthwith  took  his  departure  for  his  own  home 
where  he  arrived  on  the  following  day  without 
farther  molestation. 

The  sequel  to  this  singular  outrage  upon  Colo- 
nel Pickering  is  briefly  told.  Without  waiting  for 
the  result  of  their  petition  to  the  Council,  most 
of  the  actual  perpetrators  of  the  outrage  fled  north- 
ward, taking  refuge  in  the  State  of  New-York. 
On  their  way  thither  they  encountered  a  detach- 
ment of  militia,  under  the  command  of  Captain 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  36S 

Roswell  Franklin,  who  had  been  sent  out  in  pur- 
suit of  them,  and  with  whom  they  exchanged  sev- 
eral shots.  By  one  of  them  Joseph  Dudley  was 
badly  wounded.  The  others  escaped.  Dudley 
was  conveyed  to  Wilkesbarr^,  a  distance  of  sixty 
or  seventy  miles,  in  a  canoe.  The  physician  who 
was  sent  for  had  no  medicine,  and  the  wants  of 
the  wounded  man  were  supplied  from  the  medi- 
cine chest  of  Colonel  Pickering,  which  had  been 
made  up  by  Dr.  Rush.  He  survived  but  a  few 
days,  and  Mrs.  Pickering  furnished  a  winding 
sheet  for  his  burial. 

At  the  Oyer  and  Terminer  held  in  Wilkesbarr6 
the  succeeding  autumn,  several  of  the  rioters  were 
tried  and  convicted.  "  They  were  fined  and  im- 
prisoned, in  different  sums,  and  for  different 
lengths  of  time,  according  to  the  aggravation  of 
their  offence.  But  they  had  no  money  wherewith 
to  pay  their  fines,  and  the  jail  at  Wilkesbarr^  was 
BO  insufficient,  that  they  all  made  their  escape,  ex- 
cepting Stephen  Jenkins,  brother  of  Major  John 
Jenkins."  Although  concerned  in  the  plot,  he 
was  not  in  arms  with  the  insurgents ;  and  when 
the  others  escaped,  he  preferred  to  remain  and 
trust  to  the  clemency  of  the  government.  The 
consequence  was  that  he  soon  afterward  received 
a  pardon. 

Captain  Roswell  Franklin,  whose  name  has  just 
been  naentioned,  is  pronounced  by  Colonel  Picker- 


364  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

ing  to  have  been  a  worthy  man,  but  he  came  to 
a  melancholy  end.  ''  Wearied  with  the  disorders 
and  uncertain  state  of  things  at  Wyoming,  he  re- 
moved with  his  family  into  the  State  of  New- 
York,  and  sat  down  upon  a  piece  of  land  to  which 
he  had  no  title.  Others  had  done  the  same.  The 
country  was  new  and  without  inhabitants.  They 
cleared  land,  and  raised  crops,  to  subsist  th  ir 
families  and  stock.  In  two  or  three  years,  after 
all  their  crops  foF  the  season  were  harvested,  th  ir 
hay  and  grain  in  stack,  and  they  anticipated  }  ass- 
ing  the  approaching  winter  comfortably.  Governor 
George  Clinton  sent  orders  to  the  sheriff  of  the 
nearest  county  to  raise  the  militia  and  drive  ofT 
the  untitled  occupants.  These  orders  were  as  se- 
verely as  promptly  executed,  and  ths  barns  and 
crops  all  burnt.  Reduced  thus  to  despair,  Cap- 
tain Franklin  shot  himself.'^*     John  Franklin,  so 

*  Pickering's  Letter  to  his  Son.  There  is  reason,  however,  to  question 
the  accuracy  of  this  statement  as  to  the  suicide  of  Roswell  Franklin,  as 
will  he  seen  by  the  following  obituary  notice,  copied  from  a  nevv^-paper 
published  at  Auburn,  (N.  Y.)  in  the  Spring  of  1843 :— "  Died,  on  the  28th 
ult.,  at  his  late  residence  near  Aurora,  Maj.  Roswell  Fra:«klii»,  in  the 
75th  year  of  his  age.  The  deceased  was  a  native  of  Connbcticut  —  his  fa- 
ther emigrated  to  the  valley  of  Wyoming,  Pennsylvania,  —  both  were  en- 
gaged in  the  battle  with  the  Indians  and-  English  at  that  place,  which  was 
80  disastrous  to  the  States.  The  mother  and  one  sister  were  butchered 
before  their  eyes,  another  sister  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Indians  and 
retained  among  them  eleven  yeajs  at  Niagara.  The  deceased  was  also 
taken  prisoner  and  retained  among  them  about  three  years  near  Mount 
Morris,  Livingston  county.  In  the  spring  of  1787,  the  deceased  emigrated 
with  his  father  to  the  banks  of  Cayuga  Lake,  where  the  now  beautiful  vil- 
lage of  Auroia  stands.  Wnth  boughs  and  barks  they  formed  a  shelter,  and 
in  the  Autumn  of  that  year,  the  first  <  log  cabin '  e?er  erected  in  Cayuga 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

often  mentioned,  and  whose  arrest  and  imprison- 
ment for  his  treasonable  practices  was  the  cause 
of  tl^e  abduction  of  Colonel  Pickering,  was  indict- 
ed, and  remained  in  prison  for  a  considerable  pe- 
riod. He  was  ultimately  liberated  on  bail ;  and 
after  all  opposition  to  the  government  in  Luzerne 
county  had  ceased,  he  was  fully  discharged.  His 
popularity  with  the  people  remained,  and  he  was 
afterward,  for  several  years,  a  member  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Legislature.  Meeting  with  Colonel 
Pickering  in  subsequent  years,  they  interchanged 
the  ordinary  civilities  that  pass  between  gentle- 
men.* 

The  prediction  of  Major  John  Jenkins  to  Colo- 
nel Pickering,  at  the  time  when  the  latter  gentle- 
man undertook  the  pacification  of  the  valley,  that 
even  should  the  General  Assembly  pass  the  de- 
sired compromise  act,  they  would  repeal  it  at  their 

county  by  civilized  man,  was  raised  by  them,  (only  twelve  feet  square.) 
A  gentleman  of  Aurora  has  in  his  possession,  a  portion  of  the  sill  of  this 
Cabin,  aK-<o  a  portion  of  the  Oak  stump  which  stood  near  the  door,  dugout 
and  used  for  pounding  corn.  The  deceased  was  a  most  exemplary  man.— 
For  more  than  forty  years  he  was  a  deacon  in  the  Presbyterian  churches 
of  Aurora  and  Genoa."  The  place  where  Captain  Roswell  Franklin  set- 
tled, therefore,  was  not  upon  the  disputed  territory  referred  to  by  Colonel 
Pickering,  nor  do  the  circumstances  narrated  agree  with  the  facts  indica- 
ted in  this  obituary  of  the  Son. 

*  In  closing  this  narrative  of  the  captivity  of  Colonel  Pickering  in  Wy- 
oming, it  is  proper  to  say  that  the  facts  have  been  drawn  immediately  from 
the  letter  to  his  son,  cited  occasionally  in  the  notes  to  some  of  the  prece- 
ding ch  iptery.  For  a  copy  of  this  letter,  which  was  first  read  by  the  author 
about  ten  years  ago,  he  is  indebted  lo  William  .Vi'ilhenny,  Esq.,  Librariaa 
ofthe  Philadelphia  Athenjeum,  who  found  it  in  Hazard's  Pennsylvania 
Register,  where  it  was  published  in  the  spring  of  1831, 

32* 


366  HISTORY    QF  WYOMING. 

own  plf  asure,  was  verified,  sooner,  perhaps,  than 
the  prophet  himself  anticipated.  But  the  turbu- 
lent settlers  had  themselves  to  thank  for  this  vio- 
lation of  the  publi  z  faith,  if  a  violation  of  faith  it 
could  be  called  which  was  superinduced  by  the 
bad  conduct  of  many  of  those  for  whose  chief  ben- 
efit the  law  had  been  originally  designed.  The 
law  was  suspended  in  the  year  succeeding  the 
transactions  detailed  in  the  present  chapter,  and 
was  afterward  entirely  repealed.  "  Thus  the 
question  of  title  was  again  thrown  into  its  former 
position,  and  during  the  succeeding  ten  years 
continued  to  retard  the  settlement  of  the  country, 
and  to  create  continual  contention  and  distrust 
between  the  respective  claimants.  But  the  situa- 
tion of  the  inhabitants  was  very  different  from 
what  it  had  been  in  former  stages  of  the  contro- 
versy. They  were  represented  in  the  General 
Assembly  by  one  of  their  own  number,  and  were 
the  executors  of  the  laws  within  their  own  district* 
Pennsylvania  had  adopted  a  new  constitution,  and 
was  governed  by  a  more  liberal  policy.  Petitions 
were  again  presented  to  the  legislature  for  the 
passage  of  another  law,  upon  the  principles  of  the 
one  which  had  been  repealed,  and,  in  April,  1799, 
an  act  was  passed  in  conformity  to  the  prayer  of 
the  petition,  so  far  as  it  regarded  the  seventeen 
townships   contemplated   by    the  original  law."* 

*  Chapman. 


HISTORY    OF    WYOMING.  367 

The  difficulties  connected  with  the  settlement  of 
that  portion  of  the  Susquehanna  Company's  claim 
not  included  by  the  act,  were  continued  two  or 
three  years  longer,  during  which  the  Company 
exerted  itself  as  before,  in  sending  forward  clouds 
of  adventurous  spirits  to  plant  themselves  upon 
the  disputed  territory  ;  *  nor  did  they  desist  until 
the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  had  provided 
against  farther  intrusions  by  a  bill  of  severe  pains 
and  penalties.  Ultimately  the  claims  were  all  qui- 
eted, and  the  Pennsylvania  titles  fairly  established. 
The  population  of  that  portion  of  Pennsylvania, 
is  chiefly  from  New-England  ;  and  for  the  last 
thirty-five  years  the  valley  of  Wyoming  has  been 
as  remarkable  for  its  tranquillity,  as  for  the  fifty 
preceding  years  it  had  been  for  its  turbulence. 
It  is  indeed  a  lovely  spot,  which,  had  Milton  seen 
it  before  the  composition  of  his  immortal  Epic, 
might  well  have  suggested  some  portions  of  his  gor- 
geous description  of  Paradise.  The  lofty  and  ver- 
dant mountains  which  shut  the  valley  from  the  rest 
of  the  world,  correspond  well  with  the  great  poet's 


■ — — -enclosure  green, 

******* 

Of  a  steep  wUderness  ;  whose  hairy  sides 
With  thicket  overgrown,  grotesque  and  wild^ 
Access  denied  ;  while  overhead  up  grew 
Insuperable  height  oflofliest  shade, 
Cedar,  and  pine,  and  fir,  and  branching  palm,, 
A  sylvan  scene  ;  and  as  the  ranks  ascend. 
Shade  above  shade,  a  woody  theatre 
Ofstatetiest  view." 


368  HISTORY    OF    WYOMING. 

Wyoming  is  larger,  by  far,  than  the  Thessalian 
vale  which  the  poets  of  old  so  often  sang,  though 
not  less  beautiful.  If  its  mountain-barriers  are 
not  honored  by  the  classic  names  of  Ossa  and 
Olympus,  they  are  much  more  lofty.  Instead  of 
the  Peneus,  a  mightier  river  rolls  its  volume 
through  its  verdant  meadows ;  and  if  the  gods  of 
the  Greek  Mythology  were  wont  to  honor  Tempe 
with  their  presence,  in  times  of  old,  they  would 
prove  their  good  taste,  and  their  love  of  the  ro- 
mantic and  beautiful,  in  these  modern  days,  by 
taking  an  occasional  stroll  among  the  cool  shades 
and  flowery  paths  of  AVyoming. 


NOTES 
TO  GERTRUDE   OF   WYOMING. 

PART  I. 


Stanza  3,  1.  6. 
From  merry  mock-bird'' s  song. 
The  mocking-bird  is  of  the  form,  but  larger,  than  the  thrush;  and  the 
colors  are  a  mixture  of  black,  white,  and  gray.  What  is  said  of  the  night- 
ingale by  its  greatest  adn>irers,.is  what  may  with  more  propriety  appty  to 
this  bird,  who,  in  a  natural  state,  sings  with  very  superior  tastfr.  Towards 
evening  I  have  heard  one  begin  softly,  reserving  its  breath  to  swell  certain 
notes,  which,  by  this  means,  had  a  most  astonishing  effect.  A  gentleman 
in  London  had  one  of  these  birds  for  six  years.  During  the  space  of  a  min- 
ute he  was  heard  to  imitate  the  woodlark,  chaffinch,  blackbird,  thrush,  and 
sparrow.  In  this  country  (America)  I  have  frequently  known  the  mock, 
ing-birds  so  engaged  in  this  mimicry,  that  it  was  with  much  difficulty  1 
could  ever  obtain  an  opportunity  of  heariag  their  own  natural  note.  Some 
go  so  far  as  to  say,  that  tliey  have  neither  peculiar  notes,,  nor  favorite  imi- 
tations. This  may  be  denied.  TUeir  few  natural  notes  resemble  those  of 
the  (European)  nightingale.  Their  song,  however,  has  a  greater  compass 
and  volume  than  the  nightingale,  and  tliey  have  t,he  faculty  of  varying  all 
intermediate  notes  in  a  manner  which  is  truly  delightful.  —  Ashe's  Travels 
in  America,  vol.  ii.  p.  73. 

Stanza  5,  1.  9. 
And  distant  isles  that  hear  the  loud  Corbrcchtan  roar. 
The  Corybrechtan,  or  Corbrechtan,  is  a  whirlpool  on  the  western  coast 
of  Scotland,  near  the  island  of  Jura,  which  is  heard  at  a  prodigious  distance. 
Its  name  signifies  the  whirlpool  of  the- Prince  of  Denmark  ;  and  there  is  a 
tradition  that  a  Danish  Prince  once  undertook,  for  a  wager,  to  cast  anchor 
in  it.  He  is  said  to  have  used  wollen  instead  of  hempen  ropes,  for  greater 
strength,  but  perished  in  the  attempt.  On  the  shores  of  Argyleshire,  I  have 
often  listened  with  great  delight  to  the  sound  of  this  vortex,  at  the  distance 


370  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

of  many  leagues.  When  the  weather  is  calm,  and  the  adjacent  sea  scarce- 
ly heard  on  these  picturesque  shores,  its  sound,  which  is  like  the  sound  of 
innumerable  chariots,  create  a  magnificent  and  fine  effect. 

Stanza.  13,  1.  4. 
Ofbusk'ni^d  limb  and  swarthy  lineament. 
In  the  Indian  tribes  there  is  a  great  similarity  in  their  color,  stature,  &.c. 
They  are  all,  except  the  Snake  Indians,  tall  in  stature,  straight,  and  robust. 
It  is  v»!ry  seldom  they  are  deformed,  which  lias  given  rise  to  the  supposition 
that  they  put  to  death  their  deformed  children.  Their  skin  is  of  a  copper 
color  ;  their  eyes  large,  bright,  black,  and  sparkling,  indicative  of  a  subtle 
and  disccruuig  mind  ;  their  hair  is  of  the  same  color,  and  prone  to  be  long, 
seldom  or  never  curled.  Their  teeth  are  large  and  white  ;  I  never  obierv- 
ed  any  decayed  among  them,  which  makes  their  breath  as  sweet  as  the 
air  they  inhale,  —  Travels  through  America  by  Capts.  Lewis  and  Clarke^  in 
J824-5— 6. 

Stawza  14,  1.  6. 
Peace  he  to  thee !  my  words  this  belt  approve., 
The  Indians  of  North  America  accompany  every  formal  address  to  stran- 
gers, with  whom  they  form  or  recognise  a  treaty  of  amity,  with  a  present 
of  a  string  or  belt  of  Wampum.  Wampum  (says  Cadwallader  Colden)  is 
Kiade  of  the  large  whelk  shell,  Buccinum,  and  shaped  liked  long  bea^s  j 
it  is  the  current  money  of  the  Indians.— i/iit^ry  of  the  Five  Indian  JVations, 
p.  34. — J^cw-  York  edition. 

Stanza  14,  1.  7. 

7%e  paths  of  peace  my  steps  have  hither  led. 
In  relating  an  interview  of  Mohawk  Indians  with  the  Governor  of  New- 
York,  Colden  quotes  the  following  passage  as  a  specimen  of  their  metaphor- 
ical manner:  "  Where  shall  I  seek  the  chair  of  peace?  Where  shall  I  find 
it  but  upon  our  path?  and  whither  doth  our  path  lead  u.i  but  unto  this 
bouse  ?'* 

Stawxa  15,  1  2. 
Our  wampum  league  thy  brethren  did  embrace. 
When  they  solicit  the  alliance,  ofl[fensive  or  dcffensive,  of  a  whole  nation, 
they  send  an  embassy  with  a  large  belt  of  wampum  and  a  bloody  hatchet, 
inviting  them  to  come  and  drink  the  blood  of  their  enemies.  The  wampum 
made  use  of  on  these  and  other  occasions,  before  their  acquaintance  with 
the  Europeans,  was  nothing  but  small  shells  which  they  picked  up  by  the 
sea-coasts,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  lakes  ;  and  now  it  is  nothing  but  a 
kind  of  cylindrical  beads,  made  of  shells,  white  and  black,  which  are  es- 
teemed among  them  as  silver  and  gold  are  among  us.    The  black  they  call 


NOTES    TO    PART    I.  371 

the  most  valuable,  and  both  together  are  their  greatest  riches  and  ornamentsj 
these  among  them  answering  all  the  end  that  money  does  with  us.  They 
have  the  art  oC stringing,  twisting,  and  interweaving  them  into  their  belts, 
collars,  blankets,  and  moccasins,  <fec.,  in  ten  thousand  different  sizes, 
forms,  and  figures,  so  as  to  be  ornaments  for  every  part  of  dress,  and  ex- 
pressive to  them  of  all  their  important  transactions.  They  dye  the  wam- 
pum of  various  colors  and  shades,  and  mix  and  dispose  them  with  great 
ingenuity  and  order,  and  so  as  to  be  significant  among  themselves  of  almast 
every  thing  they  please  ;  so  that  by  these  their  words  are  kept,  and  their 
thoughts  communicated  to  one  another,  as  ours  are  by  Writing.  The  belts 
that  pass  from  one  nation  to  another  in  all  treaties,  declarations,  and  im- 
portant transactions,  are  very  carefully  preserv«!d  in  the  cabins  of  their 
chiefs,  and  serve  not  only  as  a  kind  of  record  or  history,  but  as  a  public 
treasure. — Major  Rogers's  Account  ofJVorth  Amerita. 

Stanza  IV',  1.  5. 
As  when  the  evil  Manitou. 

it  is  certain  that  the  Indians  acknowledge  one  Supreme  Being,  or  Giver 
of  Life,  who  presides  over  all  things  ;  that  is,  the  Great  Spirit;  and  they 
look  up  to  him  as  the  source  of  good,  from  whence  no  evil  can  proceed. 
They  also  believe  in  a  bad  Spirit,  to  whom  they  ascribe  great  power;  and 
suppose  that  through  his  power  all  the  evils  which  befall  mankind  are  af- 
flicted. To  him,  therefore,  they  pray  in  their  distresses,  begging  that  he 
would  either  avert  their  troubles,  or  moderate  them  when  they  are  no 
longer  unavoidable'. 

They  hold  also  that  there  are  good  Spirits  of  a  lower  degree,  who  have 
their  particular  departments,  in  which  they  are  constantly  contributing  to 
the  happiness  of  mortals.  These  they  suppose  to  preside  over  all  the  ex- 
traordinary productions  of  Nature,  such  as  those  lakes,  rivers,  and  moun- 
tains, that  are  of  uncommon  magnitude  ;  and  likewise  the  beasts,  birds, 
fishes,  and  even  vegetables  or  stones,  that  exceed  the  rest  of  their  species 
in  size  or  singularity. —  Clarke's  Travels  among  the  Indians^ 

The  Supreme  Spirit  of  good  is  called  by  ^he  Indians  Kitchi  Manitou  j 
and  the  Spirit  of  evil,  Matchi  Manitou. 

Stanza  19,  1.  2. 
Fever-halm  and  sweet  sagamite. 
The  fever-balm  is  a  medicine  used  by  these  tribes;  it  is  a  decoction  of  a 
bush  called  the  Fever  Tree.    Sagamite  is  a  kind  of  soup  administered  to 
their  sick. 

Stanza  SO,  1.  1. 
And  t,  the  eagle  of  my  tribe,  have  rush'd  with  this  lorn  dove. 
The  testimony  of  all  travellers  among  the  American  Indians  who  mention 
their  hieroglyphics,  authorizes  me  in  putting  this  figurative  language  in  the 


372 


GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 


mouth  of  Oiitalissi.  The  dove  is  among  them,  as  elsewhere,  an  emblem 
of  meekness;  and  the  eagle,  that  of  a  bold,  noble,  and  liberal  mind,  Whcll 
rhe  Indians  speak  of  a  warrior  who  soars  above  the  multitude  in  persoA 
and  endowments,  they  say,  "  he  is  like  the  eagle,  who  destroys  his  ene- 
mies^ and  gives  protection  and  abundance  to  the  weak  of  his  own  tribe." 

StANzA  23,  1.  2 
Far  differently,  Vie  mute  Onieda  took,  etc. 

They  are  extremely  circumspect  and  deliberate  in  every  word  and  action } 
nothing  hurries  them  into  any  intemperate  wrath,  but  that  inveteracy  to 
their  enemies,  which  is  rooted  in  every  Indian's  breast.  In  all  other  in' 
stances  they  are  cool  and  deliberate,  taking  care  to  suppress  the  emotioni 
of  the  heart.  If  an  Indian  has  discovered  that  a  friend  of  his  is  in  danger 
of  being  cut  off  by  a  lurking  enemy,  he  does  not  tell  him  of  his  danger  in 
direct  terms,  as  though  he  were  in  fear,  but  he  first  coolly  asks  him  which 
way  he  is  going  that  day,  and  having  his  answer,  with  the  same  indiffer- 
ence tells  him  that  he  has  been  informed  that  a  noxious  beast  lies  on  the 
route  he  is  going.  This  hint  proves  bufficient,  and  his  friend  avoids  the 
danger  with  as  much  caution  as  though  every  design  and  motion  of  his 
enemy  had  been  pointed  out  to  him. 

If  an  Indian  has  been  engagsd  for  several  days  in  the  chase,  and  by  ac- 
cident continued  long  without  food,  when  he  arrives  at  the  hut  of  a  friend 
where  hie  knows  his  wants  will  be  immediately  supplied,  he  lakes  care 
not  to  show  the  least  symptoms  of  impatience,  or  betray  the  extreme  hun- 
ger that  he  is  tortured  with;  but  on  being  invited  in,  sits  contentedly  down 
and  smokes  his  pipe  with  as  much  composure  as  if  his  appetite  was  cloyed, 
and  he  was  perfectly  at  ease.  He  does  the  same  if  among  strangers.  Thi« 
custom  is  strictly  adhered  to  by  every  tribe,  as  they  esteem  it  as  a  proof  of 
fortitude,  and  think  the  reverse  would  entitle  them  to  the  appellation  of 
61d  women. 

If  you  tell  an  Indian  that  his  children  havcgreatly  signalized  themselves 
against  an  enemy,  have  taken  many  scalps,  and  brought  home  many  pris- 
6ners,  he  does  not  appear  to  feel  any  strong  emotions  of  pleasure  on  the 
occasion  ;  Jiis  answer  generally  is  —  they  have  "  done  well,"  and  he  makes 
but  very  little  inquiry  about  the  matter;  on  the  contrary,  if  you  inform  him 
that  his  children  are  slain  or  taken  prisoners,  he  makes  no  complaints:  he 
only  replies,  "It  is  unfortunate:  —  and  for  some  time  asks  no  questions 
about  how  it  happened.— JLcirw  and  darkens  TVavels. 

Stanza  23,  1.  3. 

His  calumet  of  peace,  Sjc. 

Nor  is  the  calumet  of  less  importance  or  less  revered  than  the  wampnm, 

in  many  transactions  relative  both  to  peace  and  war.     The  bowl  of  this 

pipe  is  made  of  a  kind  of  soft  red  stone,  which  is  easily  wrought  and  hoi- 


NOTES    TO    PART    1. 


siai 


lowed  out  J  the  stem  is  of  cane,  alder,  or  some  kind  of  light  wood,  painted 
with  different  colors,  and  decorated  with  the  heads,  tails,  and  feathers  of 
the  most  beautiful  birds.  The  use  of  the  calumet  is  to  smoke  either  tobac- 
co, or  some  bark,  leaf,  or  herb,  which  they  often  use  instead  of  it,  when 
they  enter  into  an  alliance,  or  any  serious  occasion,  or  solemn  engage- 
ments ;  this  being  among  them  the  most  sacred  oath  that  can  be  taken,  the 
violation  of  which  is  esteemed  most  infamous,  and  deserving  of  severe 
punishment  from  Heaven.  When  they  treat  of  war,  the  whole  pipe  and  all 
its  ornaments  are  red ;  sometimes  it  is  only  red  on  one  side,  and  by  the 
disposition  of  the  feathers,  &.c.,  one  acquainted  with  their  customs  will 
know  at  first  sight  what  the  nation  who  presents  it  intends  or  desires. 
Smoking  the  calumet  is  also  a  religious  ceremony  on  some  occasions,  and 
in  all  treaties  is  considered  as  a  witness  between  the  parties,  or  rather  as 
an  instrument  by  which  they  invoke  the  sun  and  moon  to  witness  their 
sincerity,  and  to  be,  as  it  were,  a  guarantee  of  the  treaty  between  them. 
This  custom  of  the  Indians,  though  to  appearance  somewhat  ridiculous,  is 
not  without  its  reasons ;  for  as  they  find  that  smoking  tends  to  disperse 
the  vapors  of  the  brain,  to  raise  the  spirits,  and  to  qualify  them  for  think- 
ing and  judging  properly,  they  introduced  it  into  their  councils,  where,  af- 
ter their  resolves,  the  pipe  was  considered  as  a  seal  of  their  decrees,  and 
as  a  pledge  of  their  performance  thereof,  it  was  sent  to  those  they  were 
consulting,  in  alliance  or  treaty  with  ;  so  that  smoking  among  them  at  the 
same  pipe,  is  equivalent  to  our  drinking  together,  and  out  of  the  same  cup. 
— Major  Rogers^ s  Account  ofJVorth  America,  1766. 

The  lighted  calumet  is  also  used  among  them  for  a  purpose  still  more  in- 
teresting than  the  expression  of  social  friendship.  The  austere  manners 
of  the  Indians  forbid  any  appearance  of  gallantry  between  the  sexes  in 
day  time ;  but  at  night  the  young  lover  goes  a  calumetirig,  as  his  courtship 
is  called.  As  these  people  live  in  a  state  of  equality,  and  without  fear  of 
internal  violence  or  theft  in  their  own  tribes,  they  leave  their  doors  open 
by  night  as  well  as  by  day.  The  lover  takes  advantage  of  this  liberty, 
lights  his  calumet,  enters  the  cabin  of  his  mistress,  and  gently  presents  it 
to  her.  If  she  extinguishes  it,  she  admits  his  addresses  ;  but  if  she  suffer 
it  to  burn  unnoticed,  he  retires  with  a  disappointed  and  throbbing  heart. — 
Ashe^s  Travels. 

Stanza  23,  1.  6. 
Trained  from  his  tree-rocked  cradle  to  his  bier. 
An  Indian  child,  as  soon  as  he  is  born,  is  swathed  with  clothes,  or  skins  ; 
and  being  laid  upon  his  back,  is  bound  down  on  a  piece  of  thick  board, 
spread  over  with  soft  moss.  The  board  is  somewhat  larger  and  broader 
than  the  child,  and  bent  pieces  of  wood,  like  pieces  of  hoops,  are  placed 
over  its  face  to  protect  it,  so  that  if  the  machine  were  suffered  to  fall,  the 
child  probably  would  not  be  injured.  When  the  women  have  any  busi- 
ness to  transact  at  home,  they  hang  the  board  on  a  tree,  if  there  be  one  at 

3a 


374  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING* 


hand,  and  set  them  a-swinging  from  side  to  side,  like  a  pendulDm,  in  of' 
der  to  exercise  the  children. —  Wddj  vol.  ii.  p.  S46< 

Stawza  23,  1.  7. 
The  fierce  extremes  of  good  and  ill  to  brook 
Impassiv  e  — ■ — 
Of  the  active  as  well  as  passive  fortitude  of  the  Indian  character,  the 
following  is  an  instance  related  by  Adair,  in  his  Travels  :— 

A  party  of  the  Seneca  Indians  came  to  war  against  the  Katahba,  bitter 
enemies  to  each  other.  In  the  woods  the  former  discovered  a  sprightly 
warrior  belonging  to  the  latter,  hunting  in  their  usual  light  dress :  on  bis 
perceiving  them,  he  sprang  off  for  a  hollow  rock  four  or  five  miles  distant, 
as  they  intercepted  him  from  running  homeward.  He  was  so  extremely 
■wifl  and  skilful  with  the  gun,  as  to  kill  seven  of  them  in  the  running 
flght,  before  they  were  able  to  surround  and  take  him.  They  carried  him 
to  their  country  in  sad  triumph  ;  but  though  he  had  filled  them  with  un- 
common grief  and  shame  for  the  loss  of  so  many  of  their  kindred,  yet  the 
love  of  martial  virtue  induced  them  to  treat  him  during  their  long  journey, 
with  a  great  deal  more  civility  than  if  he  had  acted  the  part  of  a  coward. 
The  women  and  children,  when  they  met  him  at  their  several  towns,  beat 
him  and  whipped  him  in  as  severe  a  manner  as  the  occasion  required,  ac- 
cording to  their  law  of  justice,  and  at  last  he  was  condemned  to  die  by  the 
fiery  torturd;  It  might  reasonably  be  imagined  that  what  he  had  for  some 
time  gone  through,  by  being  fed  with  a  scanty  hand,  a  tedious  march,  lying 
at  night  on  the  bare  ground,  exposed  to  the  changes  of  the  weather,  with 
his  arms  and  legs  extended  in  a  pair  of  rough  stocks,  and  suffering  such 
punishment  on  his  entering  into  their  hostile  towns,  as  a  prelude  to  those 
■harp  torments  for  which  he  was  destined,  would  have  so  impaired  his 
health  and  affected  his  imagination,  as  to  have  sent  him  to  his  long  sleep, 
out  of  the  way  of  any  more  sufferings. —  Probably  this  would  have  been 
the  case  with  the  major  part  of  white  people  under  similar  circumstances  j 
but  I  never  knew  this  with  any  of  the  Indians;  and  this  cool-headed, 
brave  warrior,  did  not  deviate  from  their  rough  lessons  of  martial  virtue, 
but  he  acted  his  part  so  well  as  to  surprise  and  sorely  vex  his  numerous 
enemies  : — for  when  they  were  taking  him,  unpinioned,  in  their  wild  pa- 
rade, to  the  place  of  torture,  which  lay  near  to  a  river,  he  suddenly  dash- 
ed down  those  who  stood  in  his  way,  sprang  off,  and  plunged  into  the 
waters,  swimming  underneath  like  an  otter,  only  rising  to  take  breath, 
till  he  reached  the  opposite  shore.  He  now  ascended  the  steep  bank,  but 
though  he  had  good  reason  to  be  in  a  hurry,  as  many  of  the  enemy 
were  in  the  water,  and  others  running  very  like  bloodhounds,  in  pursuit 
of  him,  and  the  bullets  flying  around  him  from  the  time  he  took  to  the  riv- 
er, yet  his  heart  did  not  allow  him  to  leave  them  abruptly,  without  taking 
leave  in  a  formal  manner,  in  return  for  the  extraordinary  favors  they  had 
done,  aud  intended  to  do  him.    After  slapping  a  part  of  his  body,  in  de- 


NOTES    TO    PART    I.  375 

fiance  to  them,  (continues  the  author,)  he  put  up  the  shrill  warhoop,  as 
his  last  salute,  till  some  more  convenient  opportunity  offered,  and  darted 
off  in  the  manner  of  a  beast  broke  loose  from  its  torturing  enemies.  He 
continued  his  speed,  so  as  to  run  by  about  midnight  of  the  same  day  as  far 
as  his  eager  pursuers  were  two  days  in  reaching.  There  he  rested  till  he 
happily  discovered  five  of  those  Indians  who  had  pursued  him  : — he  lay 
hid  a  little  way  off  their  camp,  "till  they  were  sound  asleep.  Every  cir- 
cumstance of  his  situation  occurred  to  him,  and  inspired  him  with  hero- 
ism. He  was  naked,  torn,  and  hungry,  and  his  enraged  enemies  were 
come  up  with  him  ;  but  there  was  now  every  thing  to  relieve  his  wants, 
and  a  fair  opportunity  to  save  his  life,  and  get  great  honor  and  sweet  re- 
venge, by  cutting  them  off.  Resolution,  a  convenient  spot,  and  sudden 
surprise,  would  effect  the  main  object  of  all  his  wishes  and  hopes.  He 
accordingly  creeped,  took  one  of  theii  tomahawks,  and  killed  them  all  on 
the  spot,— clothed  himself,  took  a  choice  gun,  and  as  much  ammunition 
and  provisions  as  he  could  well  carry  in  a  running  march.  He  set  off 
afresh  with  a  light  heart,  and  did  not  sleep  for  several  successive  nighta, 
only  when  he  reclined  as  usual,  a  little  before  day,  with  his  back  to  a  tree. 
As  it  were  by  instinct,  when  he  found  he  was  free  from  the  pursuing  ene- 
my, he  made  directly  to  the  very  place  where  he  had  killed  seven  of  his 
enemies,  and  was  taken  by  them  for  the  fiery  torture.  He  digged  them  up, 
burned  their  bodies  to  ashes,  and  went  home  in  triumph.  Other  pursuing 
enemies  came,  on  the  evening  of  the  second  day,  to  the  camp  of  their 
dead  people,  when  the  sight  gave  them  a  greater  shock  than  they  had  ever 
known  before.  In  their  chilled  war-council  they  concluded,  that  as  he 
had  done  such  surprising  things  in  his  defence  before  he  was  captivated, 
and  since  that  in  his  waked  condition,  and  now  was  well-armed,  if  Ibey 
continued  the  pursuit  he  would  spoil  them  all,  for  surely  he  was  an  ene- 
my wizard,  and  therefore  they  returned  home.— Jldair^s  General  Observa- 
tions on  the  .American  Indians,  p.  394. 

It  is  surprising,  says  the  same  author,  to  see  the  long  continued  speedof 
the  Indians.  Though  some  of  us  have  often  run  the  swiftest  of  them  out 
of  sight  for  about  the  distance  of  twelve  miles,  yet  afterward,  without 
any  seeming  toil,  they  would  stretch  on,  leave  us  out  of  sight,  and  out- 
wind  any  horse. — Ibid.  p.  318. 

If  an  Indian  were  driven  out  into  the  extensive  woods,  with  only  a 
knife  and  a  tomahawk,  or  a  small  hatchet,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  but  he 
would  fatten  even  where  a  wolf  would  starve.  He  would  soon  collect 
fire  by  rubbing  two  dry  pieces  of  wood  together,  make  a  bark  hut,  earth- 
en vessels,  and  a  bow  and  arrows:  then  kill  wild  game,  fish,  fresh-water 
tortoises,  gather  a  plentiful  variety  of  vegetables,  and  live  in  affluence,— 
Ibid.  p.  410, 

Stanza  24,  I.  7. 
Mocasinsia  a  sort  of  Indian  buskins. 


376  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

Stawza  25,  1. 1.  • 

Sleep,  wearied  one .'  and  in  the  dreaming  land 

Shouldst  thou  to-morrow  with  thy  mother  meet. 
There  is  nothing  (says  Charlevoix)  in  which  these  barbarians  carry  their 
superstitions  further,  than  in  what  regards  dreams  :  but  they  vary  greatly 
in  their  manner  of  explaining  themselves  on  this  point.  Sometimes  it  \i 
the  reasonable  soul  which  ranges  abroad,  while  the  sensitive  continues  to 
animate  the  body.  Sometimes  it  is  the  familiar  genius  who  gives  salutary 
counsel  with  respect  to  what  is  going  to  happen.  Sometimes  it  is  a  visit 
made  by  the  soul  of  the  object  of  which  he  dreams.  But  in  whatever 
manner  the  dream  is  conceived  it  is  always  looked  upon  as  a  thing  sacred, 
and  as  the  most  ordinary  way  in  which  the  gods  make  known  their  will 
to  men.  Filled  with  this  idea,  they  cannot  conceive  how  we  should  pay 
no  regard  to  them.  For  the  most  part  they  look  upon  them  either  as  a  de- 
sire of  the  soul,  inspired  by  some  genius,  or  an  order  from  him,  and  in  con- 
sequence of  this  principle  they  hold  it  a  religious  duty  to  obey  them.  An 
Indian  having  dreamt  of  having  a  finger  cut  off,  had  it  really  cut  off  as 
soon  as  he  awoke,  having  first  prepared  himself  for  this  important  action 
by  a  feast.  Another  having  dreamt  of  being  a  prisoner,  and  in  the  hands 
of  his  enemies,  was  much  at  a  loss  what  to  do.  He  consulted  the  jug- 
glers, and  by  their  advice  caused  himself  to  be  tied  to  a  post,  and  burnt  in 
several  parts  of  the  'boAy.— Charlevoix^  Journal  of  a  Voyage  to  JVortA 
.America. 

Stawza  26,  1.  5. 
TTie  crocodile,  the  condor  of  the  rock — 
The  alligator,  or  American  crocodile,  when  flill  grown,  (says  Bertram,) 
is  a  very  large  and  terrible  creature,  and  of  prodigious  strength,  activity, 
and  swiftness  in  the  water.  I  have  seen  them  twenty  feet  in  length,  and 
some  are  supposed  to  be  twenty-two  or  twenty-three  feet  in  length.  Their 
body  is  as  large  as  that  of  a  horse,  their  shape  usually  resembles  that  of  a 
lizard,  which  is  fiat,  or  cuneiform,  being  compressed  on  each  side,  and 
gradually  diminishing  from  the  abdomen  to  the  extremity,  which,  with 
the  whole  body,  is  covered  with  horny  plates  of  squama;,  impenetrable 
when  on  the  body  of  the  live  animal,  even  to  a  rifle-ball,  except  about 
their  head,  and  just  behind  their  fore-legs  or  arms,  where,  it  is  said,  they 
are  only  vulnerable.  The  head  of  a  full  grown  one  is  about  three  feet,  and 
the  mouth  opens  nearly  the  same  length.  Their  eyes  are  small  in  propor- 
tion, and  seem  sunk  in  the  head,  by  means  of  the  prominency  of  the 
brows  ;  the  nostrils  are  large,  inflated,  and  prominent  on  the  top,  so  that 
the  head  on  the  water  resembles  at  a  distance,  a  great  chunk  of  wood 
floating  about :  only  the  upper  jaw  moves,  which  they  raise  almost  per- 
pendicular, so  as  to  form  a  right  angle  with  the  lower  one.  In  the  fore- 
part of  the  upper  jaw,  on  each  side,  just  under  the  nostrils,  are  two  very 
large,  thick,  strong  teeth,  or  tusks,  not  very  sharp,  but  rather  the  shape  of 


NOTES    TO    PART    I. 


377 


a  cone ;  these  are  as  white  as  the  finest  polished  ivory,  and  are  not  cover- 
ed by  any  skin  or  lips,  but  always  in  sight,  which  gives  the  creature  a 
frightful  appearance ;  in  the  lower  jaw  are  holes  opposite  to  these  teeth  to 
receive  them  ;  when  they  clap  their  jaws  together,  it  causes  a  surprising 
noise,  like  that  which  is  made  by  forcing  a  heavy  plank  with  violence 
upon  the  ground,  and  may  be  heard  at  a  great  distance.  But  what  is  yet 
more  surprising  to  a  stranger,  is  the  incredibly  loud  and  terrifying  roar 
which  they  are  capable  of  making,  especially  in  breeding-time.  It  most 
resembles  very  heavy  distant  thunder,  not  only  shaking  the  air  and  wa- 
ters, but  causing  the  earth  to  tremble  ;  and  when  hundreds  are  roaring  at 
the  same  time,  you  can  scarcely  be  persuaded  but  that  the  whole  globe  is 
violently  and  dangerously  agitated.  An  old  champion,  who  is,  perhaps, 
absolute  sovereign  of  a  little  lake  or  lagoon,  (when  fifty  less  than  himself 
are  obliged  to  content  themselves  with  swelling  and  roaring  in  little  coves 
round  about,)  darts  forth  from  the  reedy  coverts,  all  at  once,  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  waters  in  a  right  line,  at  first  seemingly  as  rapid  as  lightning, 
but  gradually  more  slowly,  until  he  arrives  at  the  centre  of  the  lake, 
where  he  stops.  He  now  swells  himself  by  drawing  in  wind  and  water 
through  his  mouth,  which  causes  a  loud  sonorous  rattling  in  the  throat 
for  near  a  minute  ;  but  it  is  immediately  forced  out  again  through  his 
mouth  and  nostrils  with  a  loud  noise,  brandishing  his  tail  in  the  air,  and 
the  vapor  running  from  his  nostrils  like  smoke.  At  other  times,  when 
swoln  to  an  extent  ready  to  burst,  his  head  and  tail  lifted  up,  he  spins  or 
twirls  round  on  the  surface  of  the  water.  He  acts  his  part  like  an  Indian 
chief,  when  rehearsing  his  feats  of  war.— Bertram's  Travels  in  JSTorth 
America. 

Stanza  27,  1.  4. 
Then  forth  uprose  that  lone  wayfaring  man. 
They  discover  an  amazing  sagacity,  and  acquire,  with  the  greatest 
readiness,  anything  that  depends  upon  the  attention  of  the  mind.  By  ex- 
perience, and  an  acute  observation,  they  attain  many  perfections  to  which 
Americans  are  stiangers.  For  instance,  they  will  cross  a  forest  or  a  plain, 
which  is  two  hundred  miles  in  breadth,  >o  as  to  reach,  with  great  exact- 
ness, the  point  at  which  they  intend  to  arrive,  keeping,  during  the  whole 
of  that  space,  in  a  direct  line,  without  any  material  deviations  ;  and  this 
they  will  do  with  the  same  ease,  let  the  weather  be  fair  or  cloudy.  With 
equal  acuteness  they  will  point  to  that  part  of  the  heavens  the  sun  is  in, 
though  it  be  intercepted  by  clouds  or  fogs.  Besides  this,  they  are  able  to 
pursue,  with  incredible  facility,  the  traces  of  man  or  beast,  either  on 
leaves  or  grass  ;  and  on  this  account  it  is  with  great  difficulty  they  escape 
discovery.  They  are  indebted  for  these  talents,  not  only  to  nature,  but  to 
an  extraordinary  command  of  the  intellectual  qualities,  which  can  only 
be  acquired  by  an  unremitted  attention,  and  by  long  experience. 
They  are,  in  general,  very  happy  in  a  retentive  memory.  They  can 
recapitulate  every  particular  that  has  been  treated  of  in  council,  and 

33* 


378  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

remember  the  exact  lime  when  they  were  held.  TheJr  belts  rf  wampnm 
preserve  the  substance  of  the  treaties  they  have  concluded  with  the 
neighboring  tribes  for  ages  back,  to  which  they  will  appeal  and  refer  with 
as  much  perspicuity  and  readiness  as  Europeans  can  to  their  written  re- 
cords. 

The  Indians  are  totally  unskilled  in  geography,  as  well  as  all  the  other 
sciences,  and  yet  they  draw  on  their  birch-bark  very  exact  charts  or  maps 
of  the  countries  they  are  acquainted  with.  The  latitude  and  longitude 
only  are  wanting  to  make  them  tolerably  complete. 

Their  sole  knowledge  in  astronomy  consists  in  being  able  to  point  out 
the  polar  star,  by  which  they  regulate  their  course  when  they  travel  in  the 
night. 

They  reckon  the  distance  of  places,  not  by  miles  or  leagues,  but  by  a 
day's  journey  which,  according  to  the  best  calculation  I  coufd  make,  ap- 
pears to  be  about  twenty  English  miles.  These  they  also  divide  into 
halves  and  quarters,  and  will  demonstrate  them  in  their  maps  with  great 
exactness  by  the  hieroglyphics  just  mentioned,  when  they  regulate  in 
council  their  war  parties  or  their  most  distant  hunting  excursions. — LetDis 
and  darkens  Travels. 

Some  of  the  French  missionaries  have  supposed  that  the  Indians  are 
guided  by  instinct,  and  have  pretended  that  Indian  children  can  find  their 
way  through  a  forest  as  easily  as  a  person  of  maturer  years  ;  but  this  is  a 
most  absurd  notion.  It  is  unquestionably  by  a  close  attention  to  the 
growth  of  the  trees,  and  position  of  the  sun,  that  they  find  their  way.  On 
the  northern  side  of  a  tree  there  is  gpnerally  the  most  moss  :  and  the  bark 
on  tiat  side,  in  general,  differs  from  that  on  the  opposite  one.  The 
branches  towards  the  south  are,  for  the  most  part,  more  luxuriant  than 
these  on  the  other  sides  of  trees  and  several  other  distinctions  also  subsist 
between  the  northern  and  southern  sides,  cnnspicuotis  to  Indians,  being 
taught  from  their  infancy  to  attend  to  them,  which  a  common  observer 
would,  perliaps,  never  notice.  Being  accustoineil  from  their  infancy 
likewise  to  pay  great  attention  to  the  position  of  the  sun,  they  learn  to 
make  the  most  accurate  allowance  f.ir  its  apparent  motion  from  one  part  of 
the  heavens  to  another;  and  in  every  part  of  the  day  they  will  point  to 
the  part  of  the  heavens  where  it  is,  although  the  sky  be  obscured  by  clouds 
or  mists. 

An  instance  of  their  dexterity  in  finding  their  way  through  an  unknown 
country  came  under  my  observation  when  I  was  at  Staunton,  situated  be- 
hind the  Blue  Mountain'',  Virginia.  A  number  of  the  Creek  nation  had 
arrived  at  that  town  on  thiur  way  to  Philad  Mphia,  whither  they  were  go- 
ing upon  some  affairs  of  importance,  and  had  stopped  there  for  the  nigbt« 
In  the  morning,  some  circumstance  or  other  which  could  not  be  learned, 
induced  one  half  of  the  Indians  to  set  off  without  th«!ir  companions,  who 
did  not  follow  until  some  hours  aflerward.  When  these  last  were  ready 
to  pursue  their  journey,  several  of  the  towns-people  mounted  their  horsea 
to  escort  them  part  of  the  way.    They  proceeded  along  the  high  road  some 


NOTES    TO    PART    I,  379 

miles,  but,  all  at  once,  hastily  turning  aside  into  the  woods,  though  there 
was  no  path,  the  Indians  advanced  confidently  forward.  The  people  who 
accompanied  them,  surprised  at  this  movement,  informed  them  that  they 
were  quitting  the  road  to  Philadelphia,  and  expressed  their  fear  lest  they 
should  miss  their  companions  who  had  gone  on  before.  They  answered 
that  they  knew  better,  that  the  way  through  the  woods  was  the  shortest 
to  Philadelphia,  and  that  they  knew  very  well  that  their  companions  had 
entered  the  wood  at  the  very  place  where  they  did.  Curiosity  led  some  of 
the  horsemen  to  go  on  ;  and  to  their  astonishment,  for  there  was  appa- 
rently no  track,  they  overtook  the  other  Indians  in  the  thickest  part  of  the 
wood.  But  what  appeared  most  singular  was,  that  the  route  which 
they  took  was  found,  on  examining  a  map,  to  be  as  direct  for  Philadelphia 
as  if  they  had  taken  the  bearings  by  a  mariner's  compass.  From  others  of 
their  nation  who  had  been  at  Philadelphia  at  a  former  period,  they  had 
probably  learned  the  exact  direction  of  that  city  from  their  villages,  and 
had  never  lost  sight  of  it,  although  they  had  already  travelled  three  hun- 
dred miles  through  the  woods,  and  had  upwards  of  four  hundred  miles 
more  to  go  before  they  could  reach  the  place  of  their  destination. — Of  the 
exactness  with  which  they  can  find  out  a  strange  place  to  which  they 
have  been  once  directed  by  their  own  people,  a  striking  example  is  fur- 
nished, I  think,  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  his  account  of  the  Indian  graves  in 
Virginia.  These  graves  are  nothing  more  than  large  mounds  of  earth  in 
the  woods,  which  on  being  opened,  are  found,  to  contain  skeletons  in  an 
erect  posture:  the  Indian  mode  of  sepulture  has  been  too  often  described 
to  remain  unknown  to  you.  But  to  come  to  my  story.  A  party  of  Indi- 
ans thit  were  passing  on  to  some  of  the  seaports  on  the  Atlantic,  just  as 
the  Creeks,  above  mentioned,  were  going  to  Philadelphia,  were  observed, 
all  on  a  sudden,  to  quit  the  straight  road  by  which  they  were  proceeding, 
and  without  asking  any  questions,  to  strike  through  the  woods,  in  a  direct 
line,  to  one  of  these  graves,  which  lay  at  the  distance  of  some  miles  from 
the  road.  Now  very  near  a  century  must  have  passed  over  since  the  part 
of  the  Virginia  in  which  this  grave  was  situated,  had  been  inhabited  by 
Indians,  and  these  Indian  travellers,  who  were  to  visit  it  by  themselves, 
had  unquestionably  never  been  in  that  part  of  the  country  before;  they 
must  have  found  their  way  to  it  simply  from  the  description  of  its  situa- 
tion, that  had  been  handed  down  to  them  by  tradition. —  WeWs  Travels  in 
JVorth  America,  vol.  ii. 


NOTES 
TO   GERTRUDE   OF   WYOMING. 

PART   III. 


Stanza  16,  1.4. 
The  Mammoth  comes. 

That  I  am  justified  in  making  the  Indian  chief  allude  to  the  mammoth 
as  an  emblem  of  terror  and  destruction,  will  be  seen  by  the  authority 
quoted  below.  Ppeakingof  the  mammoth  or  big  buffalo,  Mr.  Jefferson 
states,  that  a  tradition  is  preserved  among  the  Indians  of  that  animal  still 
existing  in  the  northern  parts  of  America. 

"  A  delegation  of  warriors  from  the  Delaware  tribe  having  visited  the 
governor  of  Virginia  during  the  revolution,  on  matters  of  business,  the  gov- 
ernor ;  sked  them  some  questions  relative  to  their  country,  and  among 
others,  what  they  knew  or  had  heard  «f  the  animal  whose  bones  were 
found  at  the  Saltlicks,  on  the  Ohio.  Their  chief  speaker  immediately  put 
himself  into  an  attitude  of  oratory,  and  with  a  pomp  suitpd  to  what  he 
conceived  the  elevation  of  his  subject,  informed  him,  that  it  was  a  tradi- 
tion handed  down  from  their  fathers,  that  in  ancient  times  a  herd  of  these 
tremendous  animals  came  to  the  Big  bone-licks,  and  began  a  universal 
destruction  of  the  bear,  deer,  elk,  buffalo,  and  other  animals  which  had 
been  created  for  the  use  of  the  Indians.  That  the  Great  Man  above  look- 
ing down  and  seeing  this,  was  so  enraged,  that  he  seized  his  lightning, 
descended  on  the  earth,  seated  himself  on  a  neighboring  mountain  on  a 
rock,  of  which  his  seat  and  the  prints  of  his  feet  are  still  to  be  seen,  and 
hurled  his  bolts  among  them,  till  the  whole  were  slaughtered,  except  the 
big  bull,  who,  presenting  his  forehead  to  the  shafts,  shook  thoui  off  as  they 
fell,  but  missing  one,  at  length  it  wounded  him  in  the  side,  whereon, 
springing  round,  he  bounded  over  the  Ohio,  over  the  Wabash,  the  Illinois, 
and  finally  over  the  great  lakes,  where  he  is  living  at  this  day." — J^ffer^ 
son'*  JVotes  on  VirginitL, 


NOTES    TO    PART    III.  381 

Stanza  17,  1.  1. 
Scorning  to  wield  the  hatchet  for  his  bribe, 
'  Gainst  Brant  himself  I  went  to  battle  forth. 

I  took  the  character  of  Brant  in  the  poem  of  Gertrude,  from  the  com- 
mon Histories  of  England,  all  of  which  represented  him  as  a  bloody  and 
bad  man,  (even  among  savages,)  and  chief  agent  in  the  horrible  desola- 
tion of  Wyoming.  Some  years  after  this  poem  appeared,  the  son  of  Brant, 
a  most  interesting  and  intelligent  youth,  came  over  to  England,  and  I 
formed  an  acquaintance  with  him,  on  which  I  still  look  back  with  pleas- 
ure. He  appealed  to  my  sense  of  honor  and  justice,  on  his  own  part  and 
on  that  of  his  sister,  to  retract  the  unfair  aspersions  which  unconscious  of 
its  unfairness,  I  had  cast  on  his  father's  memory. 

He  then  referred  me  to  documents  which  completely  satisfied  me  that 
the  common  accounts  of  Brant's  cruelties  at  Wyoming,  which  I  had  found 
in  books  of  Travels,  and  in  Adolphus's  and  similar  Histories  of  England 
were  gross  errors,  and  that,  in  point  of  fact.  Brant  was  not  even  present 
at  that  scene  of  desolation, 

It  is,  unhappily,  to  Britons  and  Anglo-Americans  that  we  must  refer  the 
chief  blame  in  this  horrible  business.  I  published  a  letter  expressing  this 
belief  in  the  JSTew  Monthly  Magazine,  in  the  year  1822,  to  which  I  must  re- 
fer the  reader— if  he  has  any  curiosity  on  the  subject— for  an  antidote  to 
my  fanciful  description  of  Brant.  Among  other  expressions  to  young 
Brant,  I  made  use  of  the  following  words  :  "  Had  I  learnt  all  this  of  your 
father  when  I  was  writing  my  poem,  he  should  not  have  figured  in  it  as 
the  hero  of  mischief."  It  was  but  bare  justice  to  say  thus  much  of  a  Mo- 
hawk Indian,  who  spoke  English  fluently,  and  was  thought  capable  of 
having  written  a  history  of  the  Six  Nations.  I  ascertained  also  that  he 
often  strove  to  mitigate  the  cruelty  of  Indian  warfare.  The  name  of 
Brant,  therefore,  remains  in  my  poem  a  pure  and  declared  character  of 
fiction. 

Stanza  17,  1.  8  and  9. 
To  whom  nor  relative  nor  blood  remains, 
J^To,  not  a  kindred  drop  that  runs  in  human  veins. 
Every  one  who  recollects  the  specimen  of  Indian  eloquence  given  in  the 
speech  of  Logan,  a  Mingo  chief,  to  the  Governor  of  Virginia,  will  per- 
ceive that  I  have  attempted  to  paraphrase  its  concluding  and  most  striking 
expressions  ;— "  There  runs  not  a  drop  of  my  blood  in  the  veins  of  any 
living  creature."     The  similar  salutation  of  the  fictitious  personage  in 
my  story,  and  the  real  Indian  orator,  makes  it  surely  allowable  to  borrow 
Buch  an  expression ;  and  if  it  appears,  as  it  cannot  but  appear,  to  less  ad- 
vantage than  in  the  original,  I  beg  the  reader  to  reflect  how  difficult  it  is 
to  transpose  such  exquisitely  simple  words  without  sacrificing  a  portion  of 
their  efiect. 


382  GERTRUDE    OF    WYOMING. 

In  the  spring  of  1774,  a  robbery  and  murder  were  committed  on  an  in- 
habitant of  the  frontiers  of  Virginia,  by  two  Indians  of  the  Shawanee 
tribe.  The  neighboring  whites,  according  to  their  custom,  undertook  to 
punish  this  outrage  in  a  summary  manner.  Colonel  Cresap,  a  man  infa- 
mous for  the  many  murders  he  had  committed  on  those  much  injured  peo- 
ple, collected  a  party  and  proceeded  down  tlie  Kanaway  in  quest  of  ven- 
geance ;  unfortunately,  a  canoe  with  women  and  children,  with  one  man 
only,  was  seen  coming  from  the  opposite  shore,  unarmed,  and  unsuspect- 
ing an  attack  from  the  whites.  Cresap  and  his  party  concealed  themselves 
on  the  bank  of  tiio  river,  and  the  moment  the  canoe  reached  the  shore, 
singled  out  their  objects,  and  at  one  fire  killed  every  person  in  it.  This 
happened  to  be  the  family  of  Logan,  who  had  long  been  distinguished  as  a 
friend  to  the  whites.  This  unworthy  return  provoked  his  vengeance ;  he 
accordingly  signalized  himself  in  the  war  which  ensued.  In  the  autumn 
of  the  same  year  a  decisive  battle  was  fought  at  the  mouth  of  the  great 
Kanaway,  in  which  the  collected  forces  of  the  Shawanese,  Mingoes,  and 
Delawares,  were  defeated  by  a  detachment  of  the  Virginia  militia.  The 
Indians  sued  for  peace.  Logan,  however,  disdained  to  be  seen  among  the 
supplicants ;  but  lest  the  sincerity  of  a  treaty  should  be  disturbed,  from 
which  so  distinguished  a  chief  abstracted  himself,  he  sent  by  a  messenger 
the  following  speech  to  be  delivered  to  Lord  Dunmore  : — 

"  I  appeal  to  any  white  man  if  he  ever  entered  Logan's  cabin  hungry, 
and  he  gave  him  not  to  eat ;  if  he  ever  came  cold  and  naked,  and  be 
clothed  him  not.  During  the  course  of  the  last  long  and  bloody  war,  Lo- 
gan remained  idle  in  his  cabin,  an  advocate  for  peace.  Such  was  my  love 
for  the  whites,  that  my  countrymen  pointed  as  they  passed,  and  said,  Lo- 
gan is  the  friend  of  white  men.  1  have  even  thought  to  have  lived  with 
you,  but  for  the  injuries  of  one  man.  Colonel  Cresap,  the  last  spring,  in 
cold  blood,  murdered  all  the  relations  of  Logan,  even  my  womeu  and 
children. 

"  There  runs  not  a  drop  of  my  blood  in  the  veins  of  any  living  creature  : 
— this  called  on  me  for  revenge.  I  have  fought  for  it.  I  have  killed 
many.  I  have  fully  glutted  my  vengeance.  .  For  my  country,  I  rejoice  at 
the  beams  of  peace  :— but  do  not  harbor  a  thought  that  mine  is  the  joy  of 
fear.  Logan  never  felt  fear.  He  will  not  turn  on  his  heel  to  save  his  life. 
Who  is  there  to  mourn  for  Logan.'  not  one  V^— Jefferson's  Jfotts  on  Vir- 
ginia. 


COPY  OF  THE  DEED  OF  PURCHASE, 


REFERRED    TO   IN    THE    FOREGOING    WORK. 


To  all  People  to  whom  these  Presents  shall  come,  Greeting  ;  Know 
ye  that  we  Ka-hick-to-ton,  Abraham  Pieters,  Willem  Tharigjoris  (Brant 
Cauwignoge)  (Henderick  Pieters  Tejanoge)  (Canageogaije  Set  I-ta-va-rie) 
(Johans  So-ge-howane)  (Johani  Canadegaie)  (Nikes  Carigiagtadie) 
(Conaggnause)  (Johanes  Signagerat)  Cores-tago  Senosses  A-gwe-iota. — 

Being  Chief  Sachems  and  Heads  of  the  five  Nations  of  Indians  called 
the  Irequois  and  the  Native  Proprietors  of  a  large  Tract  of  Land  on,  about, 
and  adjacent  to  the  River  Susquehannah,  between  the  forty-first  and 
forty-third  Degrees  of  North  Latitude,  and  being  within  the  Limits  and 
Bounds  of  the  Charter  and  Grant  of  his  late  Majesty  King  Charles  the 
Second  to  the  Colony  of  Connecticut— and 

Whereas  a  large  Number  of  the  leige  and  good  Subjects  of  his  Royal 
Majesty  George  2nd  of  Great  Britain,  &c.,  King,  inhabitants  of  his  Said 
Majesty's  English  Colony  of  Connecticut,  &c.,  to  the  Number  of  about  Six 
Hundred  have  applyed  to  us  for  the  Purchase  of  said  above  mentioned 
Tract  of  Land,  for  a  Plantation  to  settle  upon. 

Thereupon  Whereas  a  constant  and  cordial  Friendship  from  the  time  of 
our  Progenitors  and  Predecessors  to  this  Day  hath  always  been  subsisting 
between  us  and  our  Brethren  the  English  Subjects  of  this  Said  Majesty 
King  George,  and  of  his  Royal  Predecessors,  Kings  and  Queens  of  Great 
Britain,  and  the  Continuation  of  which  we  heartily  desire.  And  Whereae, 
the  Enabling  and  Incouraging  our  Said  English  Brethren  to  Plant  and 
Settle  in  a  nearer  Neighbourhood  to  us  than  heretofore,  may  greatly  con- 
tribute to  our  safety  and  Defense  against  the  unjust  Encroachments  and 
Insults  of  French  and  Indians  in  Alliance  with  them,  and  to  the  Benefitl 
and  Increase  of  our  Trade,  and  also  may  be  very  conducive  to  our  obtain- 
ing a  more  full  and  clear  Knowledge  of  the  true  God  and  the  Christian  Re- 
ligon  and  thereby  Fix  and  Establish  a  more  firm  Solid  and  lasting  Friend- 
Bhip  with  his  said  Majesties  English  Subjects. 

Now  Thereupon  for  and  in  Consideration  of  the  Sum  of  Two  Thousand 
Pounds  of  Current  Money  of  the  Province  of  New  York  to  us,  to  our  full 
satisfaction,  before  the  Ensealing  hereof  Contented  and  Paid,  the  Receipt 
Whereof  to  full  content  we  do  hereby  Acknowledge,  and  thereupon  do 
Give,  Grant,  Bargain,  Sell,  Convey  And  Confirm 


3S4 


DEED    OF    WYOMING. 


ujrro- 


Hez.  FIuntington,Esq. 
Roger  Wolcott,  Jr.  Esq, 
Col.  Elisha  Williams 
Fbineas  Lyman,  Esq. 
Daniel  Edwards,  Esq. 
Col.  Samuel  Talcott 
George  Wyllys,  Esq. 
Thos.  Wells,  Esq. 
Eliphalet  Dyer,  Esq. 
Jabez  Fitch,  Esq. 
John  Smith,  Esq. 
Ezekiel  Pierce,  Esq. 
Thos.  Saymore 
Wm.  Pitkin,  Jun.  Esq. 
Eleazar  Fitch,  Esq. 
John  Fitch 
Samuel  Grey,  Esq. 
Jedediah  Elderkin 
John  Abbe 
William  Andrews 
Moses  Barnett 
John  Backus 
Noah  Briggs 
Caleb  Bates 
Jonathan  Baker 
Nehemiah  Barker 
Ezra  Belding 
Wm.  Buck 
Jehial  Barnam 
Gideon  Bingham 
Robert  Crery,  Jun< 
Benjaman  Crery 
Christopher  Crery 
Abijah  Crery 
Giles  Chirchel 
Barnet  Dixon 
David  Downing 
John  Dixon 
John  Dorrance 
James  Dixon 
Nathaniel  Daniels 
Samuel  Dorrance 
Richard  Downer 


Josiah  Dean,  Jun. 
Asa  Douglass 
Gideon  Demoring 
Jos.  Eaton 
Josh.  Elderkin 
Edward  Ewlngs 
Elias  Frink 
Elijah  Frances 
John  Gaston 
John  Grosvenor 
Eben.  Grosvenor 
Stephen  Gardner 
Stephen  Gardn«r,  Jan. 
Jonathan  Gardner 
David  Griswold 
Elijah  Griswold 
Robert  Hunter 
John  Hunter 
Henry  Hewett 
John  Howard 
Sarah  Huntington 
Stephen  Hardon 
John  Hough 
Josiah  Horsford 
Daniel  Horsford 
John  Judd 
Wm.  Jackson 
John  Jenkes 
Joseph  Kyle 
Archibald  Casson 
Samuel  Casson 
Adam  Kason 
Jeremiah  Kenny 
Moses  Kenny 
Gideon  Kenny 
Nathan  Kenny 
John  Kenny 
Spencer  Kenny 
John  Kagwin 
Hugh  Kennudy,  Jun. 
Thomas  Kennady,  Jun. 
Seth  Kent 
James  Kasson 


John  Leavins 
Ebenezer  Larnard 
Stephen  Lee 
Isaac  Lee 
Edward  Mott 
James  Montgomery 
John  Montgomery 
Gaun  Miller 
Samuel  McFarland 
John  Montgomery,  Jun. 
Joseph  Moffitt 
Manassah  Minor 
'J'homas  Mansfield 
John  Maning,  Jun  . 
Josiah  Orcutt 
Wm.  Parkes 
Mathew  Patrick 
Jacob  Patrick 
Joseph  Phillips 
Benj.  Pierce,  Jun. 
Robert  Parkes 
Nathan  Parkes 
Jeremiah  Rosa 
Stephen  Rodes     , 
Obediah  Rodes 
Noah  Stantly 
John  Stantly 
Tim.  Stantly 
Thomas  Sncll 
Lemuel  Smith 
John  Stephens 
Isaac  Shepard 
Jesse  Spaldwen 
Thomas  Stewart 
John  Streater 
Nehemiali  Stephens 
Andrew  Stephens 
Benj.  Stephens 
Solomon  Stoddard 
Ebenezer  Smith,  Jun. 
Eben  Smith 
Uriah  Stephens 
Joseph  Smith,  Jun. 


DEED    OF    WYOMING. 


Samuel  Silsby 
Simon  Tubbs 
Jos.  Taylor 
Philip  Turner 
Lemuel  Taylor 
Judah  Wright 
Eliphalet  Whittlesey 
Jos.  Watden 
David  Waters 
Isaac  Warner 
Wm.  Williams 
John  Wiley,  Jun. 
Thos.  Wiley 
Hugh  Wiley 
James  Wiley 
Eben.  Wright 
Isaac  Woodwarth 
Wm.  Whiting 
Wm.  Churchill 
Josiah  Curtice 
Nathan  Booth 
Ichabod  Welles 
Phineas  Judd 
Stephen  Skinner 
Wm.  Fitch 
James  Bradford 
Matthew  Patrick,  Jun. 
Nathaniel  Wales,  Jun. 
Nathaniel  Ilovey 
Prince  Tracy 
Noah  Gilbert 
Daniel  Knovvlton 
William  Huston 
Moses  Fish 
John  Johnson,  Jun. 
Wm.  Chandler,  Esq. 
Nathaniel  Warner 
Gershom  Durrance 
Thomas  Pierce 


Joseph  Church 
Ezekiel  Williams 
John  Humphry,  Esq. 
Roger  Hooker 
Alexander  Walcott 
Samuel  Talcott 
Thos.  Hosmore,  Esq. 
Jonathan  Hale,  Esq. 
Abner  Moseley 
Peletiah  Mills 
Daniel  Goodwin 
Jonathan  Humphry 
Jonathan  Pcttibone 
Andrew  Robe 
David  Phelpes 
Hezekiah  Humphry 
Hezekiah  Phelpes 
John  Veites 
Joseph  Welles 
Timothy  Seymore 
Russell  Woodbridge 
Wm.  Stantly 
Samuel  Welles 
John  Wait 
Benjamin  Caldwell 
Alexander  Gaston 
Rowland  Burton 
Alexander  Phelpes 
Niles  Colman 
David  Barker 
Benj.  Pumroy 
John  Fitch,  Jun. 
Joseph  Warren 
Seth  Dean 
Samuel  Hunteii 
Noah  Webster 
Thomas  Howard 
Zebulon  Warterman 
Eben.  Leach 


Samuel  Chandler,  Esq.  Penuel  Bowen 


Nathaniel  Berry 
Nathaniel  Wales,  Esq, 
Zebediah  Farrum 
Daniel  Stoughton 
Jonas  Shephard 
Matthew  Tolcutt 


Israel  Dimock 
Abiel  Abbott 
Thomas  Stedman 
James  Stedman 
Eben.  Griffin 
Thomas  Stephens 

34 


Thomas  Stephens,  Jun. 
Benj.  Lee 
Stephen  Fuller 
Paul  Holt 
Benj.  Collings 
James  Wilson 
James  Douglass 
John  Campbell 
Hugh  Wyley,  Jun. 
Benj.  Parke 
Bartholemew  Arthur 
Thos.  Jones 
Joseph  Taylor 
John  Read 
Wm.  Swetland 
Peter  Swetland 
Jonathan  Harriss 
Elisha  Scovil 
Eben.  Williams 
Abel  Griswold 
Stephen  Jenkins 
David  Deway 
Gershom  Breed 
John  Newton 
John  Grant 
Ephraim  Gardner 
Gershom  Hinkley 
Joshua  Ransome 
Miles  Gordon 
Isaac  Tracey 
James  Hide 
Asa  Waterman 
John  Baldwen 
Elijah  Backus 
Phinehas  Holden 
Christopher  Palmer 
Thomas  Anderson 
Allen  Willey 
John  Rothbone 
Daniel  Ely 
David  Dodge,  Jun. 
Eben.  Watson 
Sam.  Stoughton 
Sam.  Welles,  Jun. 
Isaac  Sheldon 
Eben.  Beacher 


386 


DfiEto    O^   WYOMING! 


Oliver  Wolcott 
Elijah  Sheldon 
Eben.  Marsh,  Eaq. 
Bam.  Cockrin 
Benj.  Green 
Ephraim  Andrews 
D&niel  Turner 
George  Palmer 
Capt.  Uriah  Stephens 
Samuel  Orton 
Jacob  Hensdel 
Thos.  Williams 
Zebulon  Stephens 
Thos.  Watson 
Jos.  Bird,  £s<}. 
John  Holmes 
John  Dean 

Increase  Mosely,  Esq. 
John  Hutchinson,  Esq. 
Eben.  Fletcher 
Joshua  Whitney 
Sam.  Slaughter 
Eobert  Hannia 
Noah  StephCTis 
David  Whitney,  Esq. 
Jcdediah  Stephens 
Jonathan  Smith 
Thos.  Parraely 
Oliver  San  ford 
Azeriah  Orton 
Jositih  Everit 
Francis  Evd^t 
Josiah  Everft 
Timothy  Rose 
Timothy  Everft 
Silas  Storey 
Hezekiah  Hooker 
Jedediah  Richards 
Peter  Granson 
Richard  Real 
Eben.  Gransan 
Daniel  Berry 
John  Franklin 
Robert  Walker 
Edward  Spaldwen 
Josiah  Clea-Vland 


Samuel  Lee 
Elier  Andrews 
William  Pfielb^'S 
Beth  Norton 
Levi  Watson 
Eliphalet  Ensign 
Lemuel  Orten 
Eleizer  Goodert 
Daniel  Wilcoxs 
Sam.  Gooden 
Turbal  Whitney 
James  Bird 
Thomas  Bird 
John  Miner 
Joseph  Allen 
James  Dunham 
Robert  Wincott 
Thos.  Stephens 
Joshua  Rothbonc 
Jonathan  Rothbone 
Elijah  Dean 
John  Read 
Edward  Waldow 
Jacob  Rothbone 
Isaac  Gallop 
Jonathan  Wealder 
Daniel  Rothbone 
Daniel  Miner 
Valentine  Rothbofte 
Auger  Judson 
Zachariah  Clark 
Peter  Curtice 
James  Levingworth 
Jedediah  Mills    - 
Sam.  Defouest 
Elisha  Mills 
Francis  Hawley 
Edmund  Lewis,  Jun. 
Daniel  Hide 
Josiah  Lewis,  Jun. 
John  Laborce 
Ephraim  Judson 
John  French 
Jabez  Sommers 
Josiah  Robingson 
Nathaniel  Baker 


Joseph  Ambld 
fienj.  Thompsotf 
Daniel  Morriss 
John  Andrews 
Benj.  Rhamsey,  Jailk 
Josiah  Wakeman 
Daniel  Sherwood 
Cornelius  Holl 
Stephen  Wakeman,Jailt 
Thomas  Couch 
Josiah  Beardsely 
Ephraim  Ben  net 
Matthew  Curtice 
Jonathan  Booth 
Caleb  Baldwen 
Jonathan  Willard 
Doctor  Moffitt 
Thomas  Stantly 
Joshua  Wylls 
Joseph  Hubbait 
Isaac  Sayer 
Samuel  Flag 
Daniel  Lothrop 
John  Elderkin 
Stephen  Becktvilh 
Jeremiah  Clement* 
Samuel  Gore 
Benjamin  Gale 
William  Whitney 
BarsiHai  Handd 
Isaac  Lawrdnc© 
Joseph  Palmeter 
Malachi  Butler 
Joseph  Toleat€ 
John  Spencer,  Jun. 
Elijah  Hide 
Nathaniel  Cushman 
Caleb  Hide 
Obediah  Newcomb 
Josei^i  Bingham,  Jun. 
J(Win  Strong 
Noah  Dewey 
Joseph  Skiff 
Jonathan  Hale 
Jabez  Dean 
Joseph  Weight 


DEED    OF    WYOMING. 


387 


Jacob  Kimball  Silas  Wella 

Thomas  Boles  John  Wells 

Elisha  Tracy  Samuel  Barns 

Joseph  Tracy,  Jun.         Constant  Catlin 
Isaac  Saben  John  Hanford 

William  Lothrop  Jedediah  Norton 

Daniel  Rockwell  Elisha  Hale 

Benedick  Arnold  Jacob  Drake 

Nathaniel  Parkea  Ashael  Drake 

George  Danniss  Barnabas  Hatch 

Rachel  Milner  Josiah  Cowls 

John  Edgerton  John  Webster 

Samuei  Walworth  John  Cooke 

Christapher  Stork©  Reubin  Swift 

Thomas  Walworth         Isaac  Mosley 
Stephen  Billings  Jonathan  Landoa 

Jonathan  Stricklin  John  Patterson 

John  Bliss  Nathan  Pason 

Samuel  Huun  Oliver  Badcock 

Seth  Alden  Solomon  Grant 

John  Burcliard  Benjamin  Newcomb 

Robert  Boyington  Joseph  Lippit 

M acock  Ward  Samuel  How 

Jacob  Drake,  Jun.  Walter  Hewit 

Ashbel  Woodbridge         Henry  Stephens 
Eleizer  Talcott 
All  of  ye  aforesaid  Colony  of  Connecticut  in  New  England  : 
AND  TO 
Samuel  Dorrance 
Michael  Dorrance 
Elnathan  Walker 
Amos  Stafford,  Jun. 
Simeon  Draper 
Thomas  Mattison 
Daniel  Lawrence 
Amos  Stafford 
Samuel  Drown 
John  Bucklin 
Thomas  Burt 
Of  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island,  in  New  England,  aforesaid  ; 
AND  TO 

Daniel  Shoemaker  John  Adkins,  Esq. 

Benjamin  Shoemaker      Samuel  Depew,  Esq. 

Joseph  Skinner  John  PanaJher,  Esq. 

Abram  Fencumps,  Esq. 
All  of  the  Government  of  Pennsylvania; 


Obediah  Gore 
Abel  Clarke 
Seth  Smith 
John  Birchard,  3d. 
Joseph  Dennison,  Esq. 
Samuel  Tracy 
Ephraim  Bill 
Herl.art  Pride 
Thomas  Welle* 
Thos.  Fish 
Thomas  Branch,  Jun. 
Benjamin  Wentworth 
Simon  Huntington 
Isaac  Tracy,  Jun. 
John  Wood 
Oliver  Spicer 
Benjamin  Giles 
Thomas  Giles 
Jonathan  Gennings 
Simon  Backus 
Ebenezer  Grover,  Jun. 
Joseph  Billings,  Jun. 
Robert  Kenady 
John  Williams 
Daniel  Lathan 
John  Choate 


Jabez  Bowen,  Esq. 
Jonathan  Randale,Esq. 
Rob.  Randale,  Esq. 
Jonathan  Nicolls 
Robert  Hazzard 
Benjamin  Bowen 
Francis  Colgrove 
Martin  Howard 
Philip  Wilkinson 
Daniel  Ayrault 
George  Dorrance 


Jonathan  Moray 
Charles  Harris 
William  Sheldon 
Eliakam  Walker 
Richard  Charnton 
Beriah  Brown 
John  Reynolds 
John  Reynolds,  Jun. 
Jonathan  Reynolds 
Benjamin  Sheffield 
Jonathan  Hamilton 


Daniel  Henshaw 
Aaron  Depew 
Splomon  Gennings 


388 


DEED   OP    WYOMING, 


AND  TO 

Timothy  Woodbridge      David  King  John  Winf ,  Jun. 

John  Wing 

Of  the  Province  of  ye  Massachusetts  Bay  : 
AND  TO 
Hendrick  Burghert^un.  Jacob  Boseboom  Jonathan  Back 

Aaron  Sheldon  Kiliaen  De  Kidder  Baltazar  Lydioa 

Joseph  Woodbridge         John  Henry  Lydius,Esq.  John  Rosa 
Benjamin  Ashby  Jeremiah  Hogeboom 

Of  the  Province  of  New  York  : 

Being  in  all  five  Hundred  and  Thirty-four  in  Number — 

To  each  and  every  of  the  Persons  before  and  above  mentioned  and 
Named,  Two  Twelve  Hundred  and  Twenty  four  parts  of  the  Large  Tract 
or  Parcel  of  Land  as  hereafter  Described  and  Bounded. 

And  we  do  also  for  and  upon  the  Consideration  Afore  Said,  give,  grant, 
Bargain,  Sell,  Convey  and  Confirm, 

UJ^TO 

[heb£  begins  half  shakes.] 


Eliphalet  Newel 
Jacob  Dana 
John  Webb 
Oliver  Parish 
Paul  Hebard 
Hezekiah  Huntington 
Eben  Bebbens 
Abram  Snow 
Eleazar  Dones 
Joseph  Spiiuldjng 
Curtis  Spaulding 
Thomas  Brown 
John  Eddy 
Judah  Hay 
Joseph  Alexander 
John  Campbell,  3d. 
James  CampbeVl,  Jun. 
Jacob  Simons 
Jeduthan  Simons 
Benjamin  Parks 
Henry  Arnold 
John  Wells 
Jacob  Sisco 
Hezekiah  Dcmmon 
Samuel  Douglass 
James  Morriss 
Samuel  Jackson 
Samuel  Gordon 


Gideon  Baldwin 
Abel  Barnes 
Hezekiah  Orton. 
John  Wough 
Thomas  Lylly 
Samuel  Norton 
Hezekiah  Hooker 
Thomas  Fellows 
James  Hannas 
Joseph  Fellows 
Henry  Bass 
Benjamin  FoUit 
Simeon  Dean 
John  Steel 
Elisba  Steel 
Samuel  Church 
Eben  Lewis 
Caleb  Wheeler 
jehial  Bryant 
Cotton  Fletcher 
John  Fellows 
Samuel  Ford 
Job  Marsh 
John  Pirkcns 
Thomas  Porter 
Andrew  Bacon 
Thomas  Day 
David  Bredwell 


Gideon  Lawrence 
Jesse  Stephens 
Alexander  Hinman 
Nathaniel  Crandell 
Joshua  Birch 
EU  Colton 
Daniel  Alden 
Nathaniel  Loomis 
Oliver  Crery 
Aaron  Crery 
George  Crery 
William  Crery 
Eben  Cheney 
John  Cogswell 
John  Cone 
John  Coleburt 
Abraham  Harden 
Jonathan  Sanger 
Thomas  Steel 
Thomas  Warner 
Zachariah  Bicknala 
John  Royce 
Samuel  Douglass 
Joshua  Dunlap 
Alexander  Stewart 
Benajah  Bill 
Elias  Frink,  Juiw 
Joseph  Hazen 


DEED    OF    WYOMING. 


389 


Samuel  Webb,  Jun. 
Seth  Wright 
John  Larabe 
Nathaniel  Hide 
Epllraim  Dean 
Phinehas  Lewis 
John  Strong 
Hezekiah  May 
Thomas  Wells 
Josiah  Griswold 
James  Lockwood 
Elisha  Williams,  Jun. 
Ezekiel  Porter 
Samuel  May 
Joseph  Webb 
Thomas  Belding,- Jun. 
Samuel  Curtice 
John  Hart 
Wm.  Wadsworth 
Peter  Judson* 
Nehemiah  Lewis 
Lott  Norton 
David  Bigilo,  Jun* 
John  Young 


i 


Jacob  Simons,  3d. 

Zebulon  Hebard 

Joshua  Read 

Gideon. Hebard' 

Joseph  Badcock 

Samuel  Bennit 

David  Palmer 

Benajah  Parks 

Josiah  Parks 

Gideon  Haskell 

Jacob  Geers 

Benjamin  Geers 

John  Head,  Jun. 

Elnathan  Street 

Constant  Caston 

William  Manly 

Caleb  Moses 

Mark  Levingsworth 

John  Levingsworth 

Ezra  Stiles 

Jonathan  Fitch 

Nathaniel  Barns 

James  Case 

DanielBale 

All  being  of  the  Colony  of  Connecticut  aforesaid,  to  the  number  of  one 
Hundred  and  Thirty-Six  Persons  ;  To  each  one  of  the  last  mentioned  per- 
sons to  the  aforesaid  number  of  one  Hundred  and  Thirty-Six  ;  The  one 
Twelve  Hundred  and  Twenty -fourtli  part  of  the  same  I^arge  Tract  or 
Parcel  of  Land  aforesaid,  of  all  which  afore  Named  Persons  the  sum  afore- 
said was  Received,  which  Said  given  and  granted  Tract  of  Land  i^  Butted, 
Bounded  and  Described,  as  Foiloweth,  (Viz.) 

Beginning  from  the  one  and  fourtyeth  Degree  of  North  Latitude  at  ten 
miles  Distance  East  of  Susqueannah  River,  and  from  thence  with  a  north- 
wardly line  Ten  miles  East  of  the  River  To  the  41(1  or  beginning  of 
the  forty  Third  Degree  IVorth  Latitude,  and  so  to  extend  West, Two  Decrees 
of  Longitude,  one  hundred  and  Twenty  miles  South,  to  the  Beginning  of 
the  forty  Second  Degree,  and  from  thence  East  to  the  afore  mentioned 
Bound,  which  is  ten  Miles  East  of  Susquehannah  River,  together  with  all 
and  every,  the  Mines, Minerals  or  Ore  of  what  kind  soever,  stand  in  e;,  grow- 
ing, being  found  or  to  be  fonnd  upon  any  Part,  or  Parcel  thereof,  and  all 
other  the  Hereditaments  and  Appurtenances  to  the  Said  Parcel  or  Tract  be- 
longing or  in  anyway  appertaining,  and  the  Reversion  and  Reversions,  Re- 
mainder and  Remainders,  &c. 

Tojiave  and  to  hold  all  the  above  Granted  and  Bargf|ined  Premises  with 
all  the  Appurtenances  thereof. 
Unto  all  thj  above  andafore  Named  Persons,  iq  Mfiaaer  and  Proportion 

34* 


Elisha  Cornish 
Isaac  Pettebone 
Timothy  Moses 
Oliver  Humphrey 
Jacob  Case 
Abel  Pettebone 
William  Manly,  Jun. 
Giles  Pettibone 
Abram  Pettibone 
John  Barker 
John  Spencer 
Samuel  llulbert 
Gideon  Burr 
Richard  Cook 
Seth  Loomiss 
Joseph  Case 
Jona.  Levingsworth 
Thomas  Humphries 
Moses  Bellamy 
Aaron  Bellamy 
John  Hagens 
Ephraim  Robingson 
John  Andrews 
Miles  Riggs 


390  DEED    OF    WYOMING. 

aforesaid,  and  to  their  Heirs  and  Assigns,  and.  to  their  only  proper  ase,  ben- 
efit and  behoof  forever,  as  a  free,  Clear  and  Absolute  Estate  uf  Inheritance, 
in  fee  simple,  free  of  all  incumbrances  whatsoever. 

And  We  the  Afore  Said,  Cahik-tq-ton,  Abram  Pieters,  Willem  Tarigjo- 
ris,  (Brant)  Cauwignoge,  &c.,  &c.,  &c.  Sachems  and  Chiefs  as  aforesaid, 
do  Hereby  covenant  to  and  with  all  the  afore  Named  grantees,  and  each 
and  every  of  them,  that,  at  and  until  the  Ensealing  and  Delivering  hereof, 
we  are  the  True,  sole,  and  Lawful  owners  of  the  above  granted  Premisses, 
and  have  good  Right,  Power,  and  authority  to  Bargain  and  Sell  the  Same 
in  Manner  and  Form  as  above  Writen  ;  and  Furthermore,  we  the  above 
Named  Cahik-to-ton,  Abram  Pieters,  Willem  Tharigjoris,  (Brant)  Cauwig- 
noge, Sachems  and  Chiefs  as  afore  said,  do  by  these  Presents  for  us,  our 
Heirs  and  Successors,  Covenant  and  promise  to  and  with  all  and  every  of 
the  afore  Named  Persons,  Grantees,  in  this  Deed,  all  the  above  Granted  and 
Bargained  Premisses  and.  Appurtenances  thereof,  unto  all, and.  every  of  the 
afore  Named  Persons,  Grantees  in  this  Deed,  and  to  their  and  every  of  their 
Heirs  and  Assigns,  in  Manner  and  Proportion  afore  said,  forever  to  Warrant, 
Secure,  and  Defend — in  Witness  whereof  we  l^ave  each  of  us  Set  our  Marks, 
And  Affixed  our  Seals,  This  Eleventh  Day  of  July,  in  the  Twenty-Eighth 
Vear  of  the  Reign,  of  Our  Sovereign  Lord  Geqrgc  ye  Second  of  Great  Bri- 
tain, &.C.  King,  Anuo  Domini  one  Thousand  Seven  Hundred  and  fifty-Four. 

Signed  Sealed  and  Delivered  in  Presence  of 

EPH.  WILLIAMS,  Jr. 
JOSEPH  KELLOGG. 


his 
KAHIK-TO-TON,  [Racoon.]  Chitfofye  Senekas,  (Beal,) 

mark. 


his 

ABRAHAM  [Letter  A.]  PIETERS,  (Seal.) 

mark.  Sachem  of  Canagoharie  off$  7Vti<  (/ye  Btmr, 


hia 
WILtEM  [Turtle.] THARIGJORIS,  [Seal.] 

mark.  Sachem  of  Canajohari*. 


BRANT   [   Wolf.  ]  CAUWIGNOGE,  [S<a»»]- 

mark.  Sachem  Mohoka. 


DEED    OF    WyOMING.  091 

SigTied  Sealed  and  Delivered  in  Presence  of 

JAMES  SHARPE, 
MARTIN  LYNDE. 

his 
[Beaver.]  CANAGEGAIE.  [Seal.]   " 

mark.  One  of  the  Sachems  of  Onondage. 

his 
SET   r;^]  I-TA-VA-RIE. 

mark.  [Seal.]  of  ye  Mohoks  ye  Turtle. 

his 
JOHANIS  [Litti7c:]  SOGEHOWANE, 

inarjt..  [Seal.]  Do.        Do. 

his 
SENOSIEN:  r  Turtle.  ] 

mark,  [Seal.]        OnidiVi 

his 
JOnANIS  [xJCANA-DEGAltt, 

mark.  [Seal.]  Bear,        Do. 

his 
NIKES  [LetteTN]]'  GARfGIAGTA-TIE, 

mark.  [Seal]  Wolf  Canajoharisi 

Signed  Sealed  and  Delivered  in  presence  of 

SYBRANT  VAN  SCHACK,  Jun. 
JOHANNIS  J..WENDEL, 

his  -v 

CONAGGJESE  [Turtle.]  I 

mark,  [Seal.]         | 

i„ 

fi 

I  » 


Io 

■J^HANS  [   Bear.  ]tEGNAGERAT, 

mark.  [Seal.] 


his 
©KWEIOLA,  [Turtle.] 

mark.,  [Seal 


.  J 


392  EXTRACTS    PROM 

his 
[Weazle.]  CANST  AGO*  [Seal.] 

mark. 

nartfard  ss  -.  20tA  January,  1755. 
I,  John  Ledyard,  one  of  his  majesties  Justices  of  the  Peace  for  said  Coun- 
ty, have  Examined    and  Compared  the  foregoing  Deed  with  the  originall 
and  find  it  to  be  a  true  Copy  thereof. 

JOHN  LEDYARD. 


[Extracts   from   the  Diary    of   Sir  William  Johwson,   RcsrxcTiiro 

THE     affairs     between     THE     INDIANS     AND     THE     CONNECTICUT     PUR- 
CHASERS   OF    THE    WyOMINO   LANDS.] 

Johnson  Hall,  Wednesday ,  February  9tA,  1763. 
Onaharissa  with  two  other  Onondagas  arrived  here  and.  acquainted  Sir 
William,  that  the  Sachems  of  their.  Nation  would  wait  on  him  in  a  few 
days,  on  authority  of  a  message  delivered  them  from  Sir  William,  lately, 
by  some  Senecas  who  had  been  at  his  House,  which  as  delivered  to  them, 
was  very  alarming,  and  gave  them  all  the  greatest  uneasiness. 

4. Strings  of  Wampum. 

Wednesday,  March  23d,  1763. 
Had  a  meeting  with  ye  Mohawks  and  several  Senecas  from  Schenecta- 
dy, at  Fort  Johnson,  when  ye  Mohawks  made  claim  to  ye  Lands  from  ye 
Flatt))  of  Schenectady,  to  a  place  called  Ua-ga-wariuni,  allcdging  it  never 
was  sold  by  their  Forefathers,  but  lent  by  them  for  a  Forage  for  their 
Cattle. 


While  they  were  in  Council,  Col.  EUphalet  Pyer  and  Mr.  Woodbridge, 
of  Stockbridge,  arrived  at  Fort  Johnson,  in  order  to  know  whether  the  Six 
Nations  were  coming  down  to  a  Meeting  proposed  to  be  held  at  Albany 
ye  22d.  Inst.,  with  them  and  the  New  England  People,  who  wore  now  come 
to  Albany  for  ye  purpose  and  had  with  them  between  tlwee  and  four  hundred 
pounds  as  a  present  to  give  ye  i^\x  Nntiona  In  case  they  would  consent  to 
their  (ye  New  England  Peoples)  settling,  and  enjoying  the  Land  of  and 
about  Skahandowana*  on  the  Susquahana  j  also  six  Bullocks  and  three  bar- 

*  One  of  the  Indian  names  of  Wjroraing.    W.  L.  S. 


393 


rels  of  Pork.  This  invitation  was  sent  last  autumn  in  writing,  by  one 
John  Smith,  who  was  with  a  number  of  his  Country  People  at  Skahando- 
wana,  and  delivered  to  Thomas  King  of  Oyhquago,  who  1  told  them,  had 
not  I  thought  delivered  it  to  the  Six  Nations.  As  I  heard  them  say  nothing 
about  it  when  a  few  days  ago  assembled  at  my  House.  The  before  men- 
tioned gentlemen  then  made  me  an  offer  to  be  a  Partner  in  ye  Land,  and 
to  send  up  the  money  to  me,  also  the  Bullocks  and  Pork,  &c.,  that  I  might 
call  ye  Six  Nations  and  give  it  them  provided  they  agreed  to  their  propo- 
sal, all  which  I  refused  with  ye  slight  it  deserved,  and  gave  them  my 
opinion  on  the  whole  affair,  and  also  told  them  the  unhappy  consequences 
that  would  in  all  probability  follow,  should  they  (as  they  often  hinted)  form 
a  settlement  in  them  parts.  After  many  fruitless  efforts  to  prevail  on  me  to 
join  and  assist  them,  tl^ey  returned  to  Albany. 

The  Mohawks  who  were  yet  present  being  desirous  to  know  their  busi- 
ness, were  told  it  in  part,  and  seemed  very  uneasy  about  it,  giving  it  as 
their  opinion,  that  if  the  New  Englanders  persisted  in  their  design  of  set- 
tling said  Lands,  it  would  be  of  very  bad  consequences, 

Johnson  Hall,  Friday,  March  25«A,  1763. 
Several  of  ye  Mohawks  came  to  acquaint  me  they  had  appointed  proper 
persons  to  attend  the  Chenussio  Meeting,  and  to  know  whether  I  would 
have  them  wait  for  ye  General's  answer  to,  or  opinion  of,  what  passed  at 
ye  late  Meeting  with  ye'Six  Nations.  Then  Abraham  their  Chief  spoke 
as  follows  : 

Brother,  We  could  not  rest  these  two  days  past,  since  we  heard  that 
our  Brethren  of  Connecticut  were  so  intent  upon  settling  a  number 
of  their  People  at  SkaJiandowana,  and  being  fully  sensible  of  ye  fatal  con- 
sequences that  must  attend  a  proceeding  of  ye  nature,  we  in  a  full  meeting 
of  all  our  People  resolved  to  come  to  you,  and  beg  you  woul4  with  this  belt 
of  Wampum  and  a  letter  from  yourself  acquaint  our  Brother  the  Governor 
of  Connecticut  that  there  is  to  be  a  Council  of  all  ye  Six  Nations  in  a  short 
time  at  Chenussio,  where  that  affair  [among  other  matters]  will  be  thorough- 
ly considered,  and  therefore  desire  they  may  not  move  from  New-England 
before  they  are  made  acquainted  with  the  result  thereof.     Gave  a  Belt, 

To  which  Sir  William  replied : 

Brethren,  I  approve  of  your  appointment,  and  as  I  understand  that 
some  of  your  People  are  going  to  Canajoharie  to  morrow,  I  would  advise 
them  to  enquire  of  the  Canajoharees  what  time  they  intend  setting  off  for 
ye  Meeting,  and  should  it  be  found  necessary  to  set  off  before  I  receive 
ye  General's  answer  and  opinion  of  what  passed  at  ye  late  Meeting.  I 
will  in  that  case  forward  it  by  a  chosen  Messenger,  so  that  the  Chenussio 
people  may  be  acquainted  therewith,  and  act  accordingly. 

Brethren,  I  think  your  proposal  of  sending  a  Message  to  ye  Governor 
of  Connecticut  to  stop  the  People  of  his  government  going  to  Wioming  or 


394  EXTRACTS    FROM 

Skahandowana  until  the  result  of  the  approaching  Meeting  of  ye  Six  Nationi 
at  C/ienussio  is  known  thereon,  is  a  friendly  and  prudent  step,  wherefore 
■ball  comply  with, your  re(^uest,  and  hope  the  Governor  may  agree  th/ereto. 
Then  the  Meeting  broke  up. 

[The  fbllowing  letter  from  Governor  Fitch,  together  with  the  proceeding* 
of  a  council  held  with  a  Deputation  of  Chiefs  sent  from  the  Six  Nations  to 
Hartford,  to  remonstrate  again;st  the  settlen>ent  of  Wyoming  by  the  people 
of  Connecticut,  I  have  discovered  among  the  manuscript?  of  Sir  William 
J[oh.nson  :— ] 

Gors^RKOR  Fitch  to  Sib  William  Johnsoi*. 

Martfordy  SOtA,  May,  1763. 
Sin,, 

I  have  the  Honour  of  your  Letter  by  Lt.  Joboson,  acquainting  me 
with  the  Delegation  of  the  Confederate  Nations  of  Indians.  Five  of  them 
with  the  interpreter  arrived  here  under  Mr.  Johnson's  Conduct  last  Thurs- 
day, and  on  Saturday  they  were  admitted  to  make  their  Speech  and  Deliver 
the  Message  they  said  they  were  charged  with  in  the  presence  of  the 
Council  and  Assembly.  And  this  Day  in  like  manner  I  made  a  Speech  to 
them  with  which  as  the  Interpreter  informed,  they  were  well  satisfied. — I 
should  have  inclosed  Copies  of  them  but  the  Time  is  short  and  Lt.  John- 
son will  have  them,  to  which  I  beg  leave  to  refer  you 

Soon  after  receiving  your  Letter  with  the  Speech  and  Belt  some  tin>« 
ago,  I  received  Orders  from  theSecretary  of  State  signifying  it  as  his  Majes- 
ty's Pleasure  I  should' use  both  Authority  and  Influence  to  prevent  the 
prosecution  of  the  Settlement  of  the  Lands  on  the  Susquehannah,  &c.,  tiU 
the  matter  could  be  laid  befbre  the  King,  and  in  Consequence  of  ibose 
Orders  (which  I  acquainted  the  principal  Gentleman  of  the  Company 
with)  they  have  agreed  to  stop  all  proceedings  towards  a  Settlement  and 
acquiesce  hi  the  King's  Order.  I  tHerefore  conclude  there  will  now  remaia 
no  unetkBioess  among  the  Indians. 

I  am  Sir  with  great  regard  your  most  obedient 

and  most  humble  Servant 

THOS.  FITCH 
Sir  W1LLIA.M'  JoBjfsoN,  Baronet,  tfc^ 

A  CONFERENCE  WITM  DBPiJTIES  OF  TEE  SIX  NATIONS  OP 
INDIANA 

In  the  Council  Chamber  at  Hartford,  in  the  Colony  of  0)»i»ectie«it,  on 
the  28ih  Day  of  May,  1763. 

Tresent 
The  Governor,  Council,  and  Assembly  of  said  Cotonj. 
Togwerote  Mobock 


DIARY.  395 

Sagagenguaraghta,(Spea'ker)  )  r»„«^/io„„«  1 

Toghuasquantha  ^  j  Onondagas  ( Deputies  of  th6 

Soheres  )      ^ ^„  if      Six  Nations 

Oghsegwarona  i      Cayugas  ] 

G.  Johnson,  Esq.,  D.  Agent,  Attending 
with  William  Printup,  Interpreter,  sent  by  Sir  Wm.  Johnson,  Agent  foi* 
Indian  Affairs. 

The  deputies  after  being  taken  by  the   Hand,  and  bid   Welcome  into 
the  Government,  Seated  themselves,  Sagagenguaraghta,  arose  and  deliv- 
ered a  Speech,  w^hich  from  the  Interpreter 'was  taken  as  followeth,  viz  : 
Brethren, 

We  were  sent  by  the  Chiefs  of  the  six  Natiotis,  attd  it  has  pleased  God 
that  we  are  arived  safe  at  this  place  to  see  you. 

^RSTHREN, 

We  are  Deputies  from  all  the  Chiefs,  and  they  understand  t^at.you  are 
■not  quite  sound  within,  and  we  give  this  to  clear  your  eyes  that  you  may 
see,  and  open  your  ears  that  you  may  hear,  and  cleanse  your  hearts  that 
.you  may  entertain  cordially  what  we  shall  speak  to  you. 

A  Belt  of  Wampum. 

We  have  no  Writings  of  it,  hut  we  have  a  Tradition  that  God,  the 
Maker  of  all  things  hath  given  to  the  Six  Nations  our  large  Country  to 
dwell  and  subsist  in,  and  made  them  a  strong  People,  and  our  Nations 
have  of  Old  appointed  a  Fire  Place  at  Onondauga,  ^nd  by  that  meatjs 
united  together  and  so  became  a  strong  and  Powerfull  Confederacy,  and 
afterwards  they  saw  at  Albany  a  white  People  and  found  means  to  enter 
into  a  Conference  with  them  and  made  a  Silver  Chain,  a  strong  Chain  of 
Friendship-,  which  they  and  We  have  from  Time  to  Time  brightened  and 
kept  clean,  and  at  this  first  Interview  liked  you  so  well,  that  we  gave  you 
room  for  j'ou  to  settle  upon  our  land,  and  you  have  since  become  very  nu- 
merous and  prosperous,  for  which  we  are -glad  and  Rejoice. 
And  Brothers, 

We  have  been  very  helpful]  and   assisted  one  another  against  our  Ene- 
mies, and  by  the  Help  of  God  we  have  gained  the  superiority  over  them. 
And  Brothers, 

You'll  excuse  us,  we  have  no  Records  of  former  Proceedings,  but  hint 
at  such  things  as  were  done  formerly  hy  our  Forefathers  and  have  nothing 
further  to  offer  on  this  Head. 

Now  we  are  come  to  another  Head. 
Brothers, 

We  have  heard  very  grievous  News  this  Winter,  that  you  were  about  fb 
come  with  Three  hundred  families  to  settle  on  our  Lands  which  was  very 
astonishing  to  Us,  and  that  you  designed  to  build  Forts  and  strong  Places, 
on  our  Lands,  and  for  that  Reason  our  Sachems  considered  upon  it  and 
have  sent  us  down  to  this  Place.    By  that  Means,  Brothers,  we  are  here  to 


^96 


EXTRACTS    FROM 


acquaint  you  with  wliat  news  we  hear,  that  you  liave  a  Design  to  settle 
on  the  Susquahannah  River  and  Claim  the  Land  to  the  West  Seas. 

We  have  heretofore  given  away  Land  to  the  white  People  but  of  the 
sale  of  this  Land  the  Six  Nations  know  Nothing  that  they  have  ever  giv- 
en it  away  or  sold  it  to  any,  and  what  Little  we  have  left,  we  intend  to 
keep  for  ourselves  :  we  know  not  of  any  such  Sale,  and  if  any  such  thing 
has  been  asked,  it  must  have  been  done  by  particular  persons  in  a  sepa- 
rate manner,  and  not  in  any  General  Meeting  or  Council  of  the  Six  Na- 
tions as  has  been  the  usual  Manner  of  their  giving  or  selling  their  Lands. 
Brothers, 

Our  custom  is  not  to  keep  anything  secret.  We  have  heard  that  one  Lyd- 
ius,  at  Albany  has  endeavored  to  purchase  some  Lands  at  Susquahanna, 
and  it  is  not  the  manner  of  the  Six  Nations  to  keep  anything  in  Reserve, 
he  was  up  among  the  Six  Nations  to  obtain  a  Sale,  but  could  not  obtain 
it,  but  we  have  heard  that  he  has  since  got  a  Deed  from  the  Indians,  which 
he  obtained  from  them  singly,  or  one  by  one,  and  that  from  stragglers  and 
such  as  we  know  nothing  of. 

We  have  often  sold  Lands  to  the  iK^hite  People,  but  then  it  was  don© 
with  consent  of  the  whole  in  some  General  meeting ;  and  this  is  the  Land 
which  we  have  reserved  for  ourselves  as  we  have  but  little  left,  and  we 
are  surprised  at  such  a  measure  being  taken  to  obtain  a  Deed  without  our 
General  knowledge  or  consent. 

We  have  been  told  that  Lydias  has  reported  that  he  paid  a  great  deal  of 
money  for  this  Land,  which  we  know  nothing  of;  and  this  is  our  hunting 
Land  which  we  depend  upon  for  our  support  and  arc  not  willing  by  any 
means  to  part  with  it. 

[Then  the  Speaker  presented  a  broad  Belt  which  he  held  in  his  bands.] 
Brothers, 

We  would  have  you  take  this  matter  into  your  serious  Consideration. 
We  here  present  you  the  Emblem  of  the  Six  Castles  belonging  to  our 
Nations,  and  through  it  is  the  Road  or  Path  through  which  we  come  to 
strengthen  and  confirm  our  covenant  Chain,  and  consider  whether  settling 
on  those  Lands  in  such  a  manner,  may  not  unhappily  tend  to  break  this 
covenant  Chain. 
Brothers, 

Seriously  lake  it  into  your  consideration,  and  think  how  you  would  like 
it,  to  have  your  lands  taken  from  you  in  an  unfair  and  injurious  manner. 
You  are  a  praying  People,  better  acquainted  with  Books  and  Learning 
than  vvc,  and  nmst  needs  know  better  what  is  right  than  to  think  it  well 
to  have  your  Lands  as  we  may  say  stolen  from  you.  Surely  you  could  not 
like  to  be  treated  in  such  a  manner,  to  have  your  Land  taken  from  you 
that  you  depended  upon  for  your  support. 
Brothbrs, 

Take  it  seriously  into  your  Consideration  how  strong  our  Union  used  to 


SIR  WILLIAM  Johnson's  diary.  397 

be  formerly,  when  we  were  as  it  were  united  under  one  head,  and  were 
one  Body,  and  Blood,  and  happily  united  in  our  Affections. 
Brothers, 

As  I  have  told  You  before,  that  we  have  been  sent  here  by  our  Chiefs 
to  let  you  know  that  we  have  heard  about  your  Design  of  entering  upon 
our  Land,  and  we  deliver  in  this  Belt  to  show  the  minds  of  the  confed- 
erate Nations,  that  you  do  not  incroach  on  these  Lands  which  we  have  re- 
s'erved  and  design  to.  keep  far  ourselves  and  our  children  to  the  latest  pos- 
terity, and  will  not  part  with  them;  tti^ey  aj-e  such  as  we  set  by  and  will 
not  sell. 
Brothers, 

If  you  proceed  to  incroach  on  our  Lands  We  shall  not  be  Easy,  but  will 
return  Home  to  our  own  places  and  apply  ourselves  to  the  the  King  our 
Father  to  obtain  Justice,  and  I  myself  will  go,  and  on  my  going  out  of  the 
house  will  retu-rn  home,  and  leave  you  to  consider  on  it ; — and  now  I  have 
said  all  I  have  to  say. 

Then  the  Governor  directed  the  Interpreter  to  tell  them  that  he  was  able 
to  give  them  a  satisfactory  Answer,  and  desired  they  would  stay  till  the 
Beginning  of  the  Week  at  which  Tin>e  tl>ey  should  have  an  Answer. 

To  which  they  answered,  that  their  Chiefs  directed  them  to  make  no 
Delay,  but  as  soon  as  they  had  made  their  Speech  they  were  to  return,  but 
at'  the  Governor's  Desire  they  would,  stay  for  a^i  Answer.  They  then 
withdrew. 

Att  the  Councill  Chamber  in  Hartford^  May  30th,  A.  D.  1763. 
Present  as  above, 
viz :  The  Governor  made  answer  to  the  Foregoing  Speech  in  the  words 
following. 
Brethren, 

We  heartily  welcome  You-  to  this  Place,  and  are  gl-ad  to  see  You  safe 
arrived,  and  that  You  are  sent  by  Your  Chiefs  to  brighten  the  Coven*nt 
Chain  made  by  our  Fore-Fathers. 

You  tell  us  Your  Chiefs  think  we  are  not  all  sound  within,  and  give  a 
Belt  to  Clear  our  Eyes  to  see,  open  our  Ears  to  hear,  and  make  our  Hearts 
clean  that  we  may  cordially  receive  what  You  speak  to  us. 
Brethren: 

We  are  sorry  your  Chiefs  think  w«  are  not  sound  within  j  we  assure 
You  our  Eyes  are  clear,  our  Eafs  are  open,  and  we  cordially  reeeive  You 
as  Friends  and  kindly  receive  your  raessagev 
Brethren, 

We  rejoice  with  You  that  God  has  prospered  the  armsofthe  Great  King 
George  our  Common  Father,  so  that  Your  and  our  Enemies  are  subdued, 
and  now  we  hope  we  shall  live  in  Peace  and  Friendship  as  long  as  the  Sun 
and  Moon  shall  endure. 

We  come  now  to  Your  Message. 

3& 


39S  EXTRACTS,    &C. 

Brethren, 

You  tell  us  the  news  You  have  beard,  that  we  were  about  to  come  with 
300  Families  to  settle  an  the  Susquehannah  River,  which  was  very  astoD- 
ishingto  You,  and  that  we  designed  to  build  Forts  on  Your  Laod.^ 
Brethren  : 

We  afssure  and  tell  You  this  Government  has  not  given  any  Orders  for 
any  such  Settlement;  We  are  no  Ways  concerned  in  that  matter,  only  a« 
Friends  to  You  have  endeavoured  to  prevent  the  People  from  going  to  set- 
tle those  Lands. 

We  have  indeed  been  told  that  a  Number  of  particular  Persons,  some 
living  in  Connecticut,  some  in  the  Massachusetts,  some  in  New-York,  and 
some  in  other  Governments  were  about  to  settle  on  these  Lands,  but  we 
advised  them  not  to  proceed  in  their  attempts.  And  Lately  I  received  Orders 
from  the  King  our  Common  Father  commanding  me  to  use  my  Authority 
and  Influence  to  prevent  those  People  from  attempting  to  settle  on  those 
Lands  till  the  matter  should  be  laid  before  the  King. 

In  Obedience  to  his  Majesty's  Commands  I  acquainted  the  Chief  men 
among  them  with  the  King's  Orders  and  advised  them  to  lay  aside  tlie 
Prosecution  of  that  Settlement  for  the  Present. 
And  Bbkthren, 

I  have  now  the  Satisfaction  to  acquaint  You  *hat  I  am  Well  informed 
those  people  have  had  a  meeting  and  have  in  Testimony,  as  well  of  his 
Majesty's  fatherly  Care  as  of  their  ready  Submission  to,  and  acquiescence 
in,  his  Orders,  unanimously  agreed  that  no  person  whatever  of  their  Com- 
pany shall  enter  upon, or  make  any  Settlement  on  any  of  those  Lands  until 
his  Majesty  our  common  Father's  pleasure  be  kw)wn  in  that  matter. 
Brethren: 

Seeing  we  are  Your  Friends,  and  agreable  to  the  King's  Orders  have 
taken  so  much  Care  to  prevent  those  Settlements  which  are  so  grevious  to 
You,  and  have  now  given  You  accounts  that  the  attempts  are  Stopt,  we 
think  You  will  be  fully  satisfied  and  inform  our  Brothers,  your  Chiefs  and 
your  Nations  of  this,  and  Rest  easy  and  quiet. 

We  assure  You  of  our  cordial  Friendship  and  wish  You  ft  safe  Journey 
Home,  and  desire  You  to  present  our  kind  Complinkents  to  the  Sachems  of 
the  Six  Nations.     P^arewett. 

To  which  the  Deputy's  of  the  Six  Nations  Repkyed  as  follows,  viz  ; 

Brethren,  we  have  heard  with  attention  what  you  have  Said  and  are  well 
]  1  ased  with  the  Same,  and  we  hope  you  will  Endeavour  to  prevent  any 
more  people  fl-om  making  purchases  of  us  :  and  as  to  those  Lands,  we  have 
Talked  about,  wc  Do  not  at  present  Design  to  part  with  them,  but  if  ever 
we  Do,  it  Shall  be  to  those  purchasers  of  your  people  before  any  otb  ts  U 
they  Desire  it;  We  are  to  Receive  no  presents  on  this  Occasion,  but 
as  to  your  offer  to  Discharge  our  Expenses  while  in  thin  town  we  Grate- 
fully Accept  and  Acknowledge  the  Same  and  heartily  bid  you  Farewell. 
A  true  Copy  examined  By 

GEORGE  WYLLYS,  Ssc'r. 


INDEX. 


Jibhott  family,  narrative  of,  268. 

Albert^  j"dge,  6  ;  home  of,  19  ;  falls  in  battle,  45. 

Alison,  Rev.  David,  teacher  of  Thomas  Campbell,  xii. 

Armstrong,  Colonel  John,  appointed  commissioner  for  establish 
ing  peace,  336;  proceeds  against  Wyoming,  337  ;  disarms 
the  settlers  by  treachery,  3.38 ;  second  expedition  against 
Wyoming,  340 ;  evacuates  Wyoming,  343  ;  note  concern- 
ing his  life,  343. 

Bennett,  Mr.,  narrative  of,  245. 

Bidlock,  Rev.  Benjamin,  imprisonment,  X86;  narrative  of,  247. 

Bidlock,  Mrs.,  account  of,  249. 

Blackman  family,  263. 

Brainerd,  Rev.  David,  where  stationed,  66. 

Brant^  statement  regarding  the  sovereignty  of  the  Aquanuschi- 
oni,  84  ;  vindication  of  his  character,  213. 

Broadhead^s  Creek,  Indian  name  of,  71. 

Butler,  Colonel  John,  invades  Wyoming,  200 ;  besieges  Fort 
Forty,  211 ;  conference  with  Col.  Dennison  at  Fort  Forty, 
241 ;  his  character,  245. 

Butler,  Colonel  Zebulon,  taken  at  Fort  Durkee,  172;  invests 
Fort  Wyoming,  175  ;  justice  of  the  peace  for  Westmore- 
land, 184;  commands  the  forces  of  Wyoming,  203 ;  escape 
from  Fort  Forty,  211 ;  vindication  of  his  conduct  in  the 
battleof  Wyoming,  22.  ;  Epitaph  of,  225  ;  return  to  Wyo- 
ming, 228  ;  goes  to  the  aid  of  Capt.  Spalding,  229. 

Campbell^  Alexander,  xii ;  residence  in  Virginia,  xii. 


400  INDEX. 

Campbell,  Robert,  brother  of  the  poet,  xii. 

Campbell,  Thomas,  ix ;  birth  of,  xi ;  connexions  of  in  America, 
*  xii ;  education  of,  xii ;  residence  in  Argyleshire  and  Edin- 
burgh, xiii ;  Writes  of  the  "  Pleasures  of  Hope,"  xiv  ;  em- 
barks for  Germany,  xiv;  plundered  in  the  Tyrol,  xv; 
residence  at  Hamburgh,  xv  ;  return  to  England,  xvi ;  de- 
scription of  the  King  of  Clubs,  xvii ;  marriage  and  set- 
tlement at  Sydenham,  xviii ;  publishes  "Gertrude  of 
Wyoming,"  xviii  ;  criticism  on  his  works  by  Irving,  xix  ; 
publishes  "  O'Connor's  Child,"  xxii. 

Canassateego,  sale  of  land,  86;  speech  of  at  the  council  to  the 
Delawares,  88 ;  anecdote  concerning  him  by  Dr.  Franklin, 
91. 

Canestogoe  Indians,  massacre  of  by  fanatics,  154. 

Carey,  Samuel,  narrative  of,  264. 

Connecticut,  charter  of,  130  ;  project  of  regarding  a  colony  at 
Wyoming,  133. 

•'  Death  of  the  Fratricide,'*  poem  by  Whittier,  216. 

Delaware  Indians^  prophecy  regarding  their  destruction,  66; 
legendary  history  of,  82 ;  nomenclature  of,  84 ;  subjugation 
of  by  the  Six  Nations,  85 ;  council  at  Philadelphia,  86  ; 
removal  of  to  Shamokin  and  Wyoming,  92;  subjugated 
by  artifice,  94  ;  expel  the  Shawanese,  103  j  go  over  to  the 
French,  107  ;  devastate  Pennsylvania,  108  ;  pacified  by  the 
Quakers,  109  ;  council  of  at  Easton,  111  ;  overreached  in 
sale  of  land  at  Nashamony  Creek,  115  ;  reconciliation  of 
to  the  English,  117  ;  intercept  a  French  dispatch,  125 ; 
send  a  message  of  peace  to  Sir  William  Johnson,  127 ;  at- 
tack and  destroy  the  settlement  of  the  Susquehanna  Com- 
pany, 146  ;  withdraw  to  Tioga,  154  ;  ravage  Wyoming  and 
attack  the  Slocum  family,  289. 

Delaware  Water  Gap,  view  of,  from  Pequest  river,  65;  geologi- 
cal formation  of,  67 ;  appearance  of  at  morning,  68  ;  route 
from  to  Wyoming,  71. 

Denniton,  Colonel,  at  the  battle  of  Wyoming,  205  ;  at  Fort  For- 
ty, 211 ;  vindication  of  his  conduct,  226  ;  account  of  his 
life,  227. 


INDEX. 


401 


Denney,  Lieutenant  Governor,  conducts  the  Council  of  Easton, 
112. 

Dorrance,  Colonel  Benjamin,  account  of  the  surrender  of  Fort 
Forty,  214. 

Dyer,  Colonel  Eliphalet,  embassy  of  to  England,  143  ;  commis- 
sioner for  deciding  the  Wyoming  question,  321. 

Easton,  Qrst  council  of,  111;  second  council  of,  112;  third 
council  of,  128 ;  fourth  council  of,  128. 

Ewing,  Colonel  Qeorge  W.,  discovers  Frances  Slocum,  295  ; 
publishes  an  account  of  her,  297;  letter  to  J.  J.  Slocum, 
303. 

Fitch,  Governor,  disavovf^s  the  acts  of  the  Susquehanna  Compa- 
ny, 142 ;   proclamation  of,  144. 

Five  Nations,  vide  Six  Nations. 

Fort  du  Quesne,  evacuation  of  by  the  French,  123. 

Fort  Durkee,  built,  164  ;  invested  by  Col.  Francis,  165  ;  surren- 
der, 166  ;  recaptured  by  the  Susquehanna  Company,  167 
surprised  by  Capt.  Ogden,  171 ;  retaken  by  Lazarus  Stew- 
art, 173  ;  surrenders  to  the  Pennsylvania  Proprietaries,  174 
abandoned  by  Ogden,  175. 

Fort  Wyoming,  built,  175  ;  invested  by  Butler  and  Stewart,  175 
surrender,  179  ;  name  changed  to  Fort  Dickinson,  323. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  anecdote  by  concerning  Canassateego,  91. 

Franklin^  John,  besieges  Fort  Dickinson,  333  ;  garrisons  Fort 
Forty,  341 ;  carries  a  block- house,  340;  stirs  up  a  commo- 
tion against  Pennsylvania,  349  ;  arrested  349  ;  member  of 
the  Legislature,  365, 

Franklin,  Captain  Roswell,  account  of,  363. 

Gertrude  of  Wyoming,  3 ;  her  extraction  and  infancy,  7  ;  mai- 
denhood of,  20 ;  apostrophe  of  to  England,  21 ;  reads 
Shakspeare  in  the  woods,  23  ;  meets  Waldegrave,  24  ;  re- 
cognizes Waldegrave,  26  ;  her  courtship  and  marriage,  29 ; 
honeymoon,  33,  34;  her  fears  at  the  approach  of  war,  36  ; 
at  the  fort  with  Waldegrave,  44 ;  is  wounded,  45  ;  her  fare- 
well, 45  ;  her  death,  47. 

Gi-en-gwah-toh,  commands  the  Indians  at  Wyoming,  205 ;  de- 
scription of,  214, 


402  INDEX. 

Hamilton,  James,  opposition  of  to  the  Susquehanna  Company, 

134. 
Hammond,  William,  murder  of,  218. 
''Hazkton  (The)  Travellers,'"  notice  of,  214 
Heath  House,  63. 
Hcndrick,  transactions  of  regarding  the  purchase  of  Wyoming, 

126  ;  death  of,  126. 
Hihhard,  Zippera,  narrative  of,  264. 
Hope,  town  of,  65 ;  inn  of,  65. 
Hopkins,  Noah,  escape  of  from  massacre,  151. 
/nwon /amiVy,  narrative  of,  252. 
Jenkins,  Mrs.  Bethia,  narrative  of,  261. 
Jenkins,  Colonel  John,  narrative  of,  255, 
Johnson,  Sir  William,  opposition  of  to  war  with  the  Delawares, 

109  ;  sends  a  deputation  to  the  council  at  Lancaster,  118  ; 

censures  Teedyuscung,  118  ;  efforts  towards  peace  with  the 

Indians,  123;  alienates  the  Senecas  and  Cayugas  from  the 

French,  127 ;    opposes  the   Susquehanna   Company,  141 ; 

letter  to  Gov.  Fitch,  145. 
Johnstone,  Rev.  Mr.,  328. 
Kent,  Judge,  country  seat  of,  61. 
Kittanniny  Hills,  orthography  of,  71. 
Lehigh  River,  appearance  of  its  waters,  75. 
Lenelenappes,  vide  Delaware  Indians. 
Logan,  derivation  of  his  name,  91. 
Luzerne  County,  organization  of,  344. 
Mackintosh,  Sir  James,  xvii. 

Montour,  Catharine,  or  Queen  Esther,  account  of,  208. 
Monument  of  Wyoming^  239. 
Moravians,  first  visit  of  to  Wyoming,  98  ;   establish  a  mission 

there,  102. 
Moravian  Indians,  threatened  by  riotous  zealots,  156  ;   removal 

to  Mahackloosing,  158. 
Mhrris,  Governor,  letter  of  to  Gov.  Shirley,  107;  letter  of  to  Sir 

William  Johnson,  110. 
Munscys  or  Minisink  Indians,  82. 
Muscontcong  or  Schooley's  Mountains,  description  of,  62, 


INDEX.  403 

Myers,  Mrs.,  nairative  of,  241. 

NantkoJce  Indians^  settlement  of  at  Wyoming,  98  ;  removal  to 
Chemunk,  106. 

Nanticoke  Falls,  description  of,  98 ;    fight  there,  190. 

Ogden,  Amos,  at  the  attack  on  Fort  Durkee,  165  ;  besieged  in  a 
block-house,  167  ;  surprises  the  Connecticut  settlers,  170; 
recaptures  Fort  Durkee,  171 ;  third  attack  on  Fort  Durkee, 
174;  builds  Fort  Wyoming,  175  ;  runs  the  blockade  of  Fort 
Wyoming,  176 ;  raises  reinforcements,  177 ;  wounded, 
179. 

Outalissi,  brings  Waldegrave  to  Wyoming,  8  ;  addresses  Albert* 
8  ;  deseription  of,  13  ;  cradle  song  of,  13 ;  departs,  15 ; 
returns  to  Wyoming,  37  ;  meets  and  addresses  Waldegrave, 
28;  proclaims  the  approach  of  Brandt,  40;  chants  a  battle- 
song,  42  ;  death-song,  48. 

Penn,  Governor,  refuses  to  treat  with  the  Susquehanna  Com- 
pany, 138;  opposes  the  colony  of  Westmoreland,  185. 

Pennsylvania  Proprietaries,  oppose  the  Revolution,  319  ;  their 
government  expires,  320;  indemnity  voted  them  by  Penn- 
sylvania, 320. 

Pickering,  Colonel  Timothy,  arbitrator,  345  ;  assists  in  the  ar- 
rest of  Jobn  Franklin,  350  ;  assailed  by  insurgents  and  es- 
capes, 350  ;  chosen  a  delegate,  353 ;  returns  to  Wyoming, 
353;  abduction,  354. 

Pike,  Abraham,  captured  by  Indians,  280  ;  escape,  280  ;  charac- 
ter, 283. 

Plunkett,  Colonel,  marches  against  Wyoming,  188  ;  abandons 
the  expedition,  193. 

Plymouth  Company,  charter  of,  129. 

Pokono  Mountain,  view  from  the  summit  of,  74. 

Post,  Christian  Frederick,  embassy  of  to  the  Indians,  119 ;  holds 
a  council  at  Fort  du  Quesne,  120  ;  second  embassy  of^  123. 

Prospect  Rock,  on  Pokono  Mountain,  prospect  from,  77. 

Quakers,  opposition  of  to  war  with  the  Delawares,  109  ;  influence 
with  the  Indians,  119. 

Ross,  General  William,  narrative  of,  236, 

Say  and  Seal,  Lord,  grant  to,  1 30. 


404  INDEX. 

Shamokin,  location  of,  &c.,  91. 

Shawanese  Flatts,  84. 

Shawanese  Indians,  wandering  of,  83  ;  settle  at  Wyoming,  84 ; 
war  with  the  Delawares  and  expulsion  from  Wyoming,  103; 
war  with  the  English,  108 ;  message  of  peace  to  Sir  Wil- 
liam Johnson,  127. 

Shoemaker,  C&^t&in,  murder  of,  218. 

Six  Nations,  their  sovereignty  over  the  Delawares,  84;  adoption 
of  the  Tuscaroras,  85  ;  council  at  Philadelphia,  85  ;  artifice 
for  subjugating  the  Delawares,  94  ;  Senecas  and  Cayugas 
alienated  from  the  French,  127;  council  at  Easton,  128; 
commencement  of  hostilities  against  the  Americans,  196. 

Slocum  family,  288  ;  losses  in  the  battle  of  Wyoming,  288  ; 
house  attacked  by  Delawares,  289 ;  second  attack  by  the 
Indians,  292. 

Slocum,  Frances,  taken  into  captivity,  291 ;  search  made  for  her, 
293  ;  discovered,  295  ;  visited  by  her  relatives,  306  ;  nar- 
ratve  of  her  captivity,  309. 

Spalding,  Captain,  commanda  at  Wilkesbarre,  229  ;  assailed  by 
Indians,  229. 

Stroudsburg,  71 ;  becomes  an  asylum  for  the  fugitives,  220. 

Sullivan,  General,  passes  through  Wyoming,  231. 

Susquehanna  Company,  formation  of,  133  ;  deputation  of  to  the 
council  at  Albany,  134;  purchase  Wyoming,  135  ;  procure 
a  charter,  138;  settle  Wyoming,  140  ;  settlement  destroyed 
by  the  Delawares,  146  ;  resettle  Wyoming,  160  ;  apply  to 
Connecticut  for  protection,  182;  elect  a  government  of  their 
own,  182 ;  their  case  submitted  to  English  arbitration,  184; 
received  into  the  colony  of  Connecticut,  184  ;  renew  their 
efforts  to  pour  settlers  into  Wyoming,  348. 

Tadame,  murder  of,  106. 

Teedyuscung,  history  of,  72  ;  baptism  of,  73;  chosen  chief  sa- 
chem, 106  ;  present  at  the  council  of  Easton,  111;  speech  at 
the  council  of  Easton,  113;  proposes  a  council  at  Lancaster, 
118  ;  his  authority  at  the  third  council  of  Easton,  128  ;  in- 
terposes in  favor  of  the  Susquehanna  Company,  139 ;  death, 
146  ;  remarks  on  his  character,  148. 


INDEX.  405 

Thomas,  Lt.  Gov.  Greorge,  present  at  the  Indian  council,  85;  re- 
marks on  the  purchase  of  land,  87. 

Thompson,  Charles,  appointed  secretary  to  Teedyuscung,  113. 

Turkey,  Anthony,  account  of  and  death,  274. 

Twightwees,  outrage  on  at  Fort  du  Quesne,  125. 

Van  Campen,  Major  Moses,  builds  a  fort,  276  ;  acts  as  spy  on 
Sullivan's  expedition,  277 ;  entrapped  by  Indians,  278  ;  es- 
capes, 280, 

Waldegrave,  brought  to  Wyoming,  8  ;  returns  from  foreign 
climes,  24 ;  describes  his  travels,  25  ;  recognized  by  Ger- 
trude, 26  ;  marriage,  29  ;  goes  to  the  conflict,  sorrow  for 
Gertrude,  48. 

Weeks  family,  275. 

Weeks,  Jonathan,  driven  from  Wyoming,  273. 

Wekahela,  account  of,  113. 

Weld,  Isaac,  account  of  Wyoming,  2. 

West  Branch  Plantation,  destruction  of  by  Westmoreland  mili- 
tia, 186. 

Westmoreland,  chartered,  184. 

WiVcesbarre,  valley  of,  78  ;  borough  of,  79  ;  burnt,  213  ;  fort 
built  there,  229, 

Williams  family,  narrative  of,  272. 

Wyoming,  apostrophe  to,  3 ;  desolation  of  (poetic  description), 
35  ;  poetic  account  of  the  battle  of  Wyoming,  41 ;  route  to, 
61 ;  topography  of,  79  ;  nomenclature  of,  80  ;  removal  of 
the  Delawares  to,  92  ;  tradition  concerning  its  silver  mines, 
97  ;  first  visited  by  the  Moravians,  98  ;  mission  of  the  Mo- 
ravians, 102  ;  explored  by  the  Susquehanna  Company,  333  ; 
purchased  by  the  Susquehanna  Company,  135  ;  settled 
from  Connecticut,  140  ;  -purchased  by  the  Pennsylvania 
Proprietaries,  159  ;  resettled  by  the  Susquehanna  Company, 
160 ;  leased  to  Charles  Stewart,  &c.,  161  ;  troubles  be- 
tween the  Proprietaries  and  the  Connecticut  settlers,  162; 
governed  by  the  Connecticut  settlers,  182;  troubles  with 
Gov.  Penn,  185  ;  destruction  of  West  Branch  Plantation, 
186  ;  interposition  of  Congress,  187  ;  invaded  by  Col.  Plun- 
kett,  188  ;   population  of,  194 ;   espouses  the  cause  of  the 


406  INDEX. 

Revolution,  195  ;  seizure  of  suspected  citizens,  196  ;  com- 
mencement of  tory  and  Indian  hostilities,  197  ;  forces  and 
defences,  199  ;  invaded  by  Col.  John  Butler,  200;  list  of 
tories  settled  there,  201 ;  battle,  204 ;  defeat  and  slaughter 
of  the  settlers,  206  ;  list  of  the  killed,  208  ;  massacre  in  the 
"  Shades  of  Death,"  210 ;  atrocities  of  the  tories,  214;  fra- 
tricide, 215;  incidents  of  the  massacre,  218;  return  of  the 
fugitives  to  secure  their  crops,  228  ;  arrival  of  Gen.  Sulli- 
van, 231 ;  committee  for  the  abatement  of  the  State  tax, 
234  ;  condition  during  the  remainder  of  the  war,  233 ; 
monument,  239  ;  opening  of  the  grave  of  the  massacred, 
286  ;  peopled  after  the  Revolution  from  Connecticut,  318  ; 
claimed  by  Pennsylvania,  320  ;  Congress  decides  in  favor 
of  Pennsylvania,  321,;  Pennsylvania  endeavors  to  eject  the 
settlers,  322 ;  memorial  of  the  settlers  to  Congress,  326  ; 
severe  winter  and  flood,  326 ;  the  settlers  plundered  and 
exiled  by  the  Pennsylvania  military,  331 ;  the  exiles  in- 
vited to  return,  332;  struggle  between  the  .settlers  and  the 
garrison  of  Fort  Dickinson,  333  ;  force  sent  to  subjugate  the 
settlerSj  336  ;  Col .  Armstrong  disarms  the  settlers  by  treach- 
ery, 338 ;  the  council  side  with  the  settlers,  341 ;  second 
appeal  of  Wyoming  to  Congress,  343  ;  Wyoming  formed 
into  Luzerne  County,  344 ;  meeting  of  commissioners  for 
arbitration  of  claims,  348  ;  new  settlers  poured  in  by  the 
Susquehanna  Company,  348  ;  Franklin  stirs  tip  new  trou- 
bles, 349  ;  Wyoming  represented  in  the'General  Assembly, 
366  ;  final  pacification,  367. 

Youngs  Mrs.  Phebe,  narrative  of,  284. 

Zinzendorf,  Count,  visits  Wyoming,  99  ;  escapes  assassination 
by  the  Shawanese,  99. 


RETURN  TO  the  circulation  desk  of  any 

University  of  California  Library 

or  to  the 

NORTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 
BIdg.  400,  Richmond  Field  Station 
University  of  Califofj^ia  ?  : 
Richmond,  CA  94804-4698     ^    ' 


ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 
2-month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling 

(510)642-6753 
1-year  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing  books 

to  NRLF 
Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4  days 

prior  to  due  date 


DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 

MAY  0  2  1994                                      i 

F£b  1  6  mi                                        1 

SENT  ON  ILL                                                           J 

AUG  0  8  «9b                                        Al 

U.C.BERKELEY                                                  /    . 

A- 

/      / 

h/ 

■  r 

1 

mm 


